


Bleeding Skies

by Rheehemoth



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Blood, Blood Magic, F/M, Flirting, Hurt/Comfort, Magic-Users, Mild Gore, Mission Fic, Romance, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-30
Updated: 2017-03-01
Packaged: 2018-05-30 02:42:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 15
Words: 87,574
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6405517
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rheehemoth/pseuds/Rheehemoth
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mystogan carries in a half-dead girl who was a victim of a dark guild attack into the Fairy Tail main hall. Gray freezes her body to stop her deteriorating any more, feeling how horribly she is hurt underneath his hands. When she recovers, Gray is there for her. As she begins to develop feelings for him, will the ice mage return them?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Carnage and Creation

**Chapter 1 – Carnage And Creation**

It was unlike anything she had felt before. The pain was so searing, so intense that she couldn't even figure out how to scream out right now. It seemed to continue on for an age, and then she finally hit the ground with a heavy thud and the pain of the impact. Her strength was so drained that she doubted she would wake up after she lost consciousness.

She vaguely heard the screams and cries of terror around her as she laid there, dazed and barely conscious as everything happened around her. With a growl of anger and self-hatred that she barely pulled off, she tried desperately to move so she could get up and keep fighting. It was useless and she couldn't even let out the scream of frustration that she felt like letting out.

Soon, the blood loss was too severe and she slipped into unconsciousness...

* * *

It was a normal day at Fairy Tail in the beautiful city of Magnolia. The sun was shining, Mirajane was serving drinks to everyone, Natsu and Gray were butting heads as Happy ate a fish, while Erza and Lucy were rolling their eyes and the Master sat on the bar, not exactly sober, chuckling away.

Without warning, as it always was, everyone started to feel drowsy for no particular reason. The less powerful succumbed to the sleep magic quicker, where as people like Erza, Gray, Natsu and the Master stayed awake just long enough to see Mystogan walk through the front door, carrying something before they all fell asleep. The Master usually wouldn't be affected at all, but he had probably had to much to drink, and just let the spell lull him to slumber for the next few minutes.

The young masked man carefully placed down what he was carrying on one of the unoccupied tables as everyone snored around him. Before he left, he decided to take a mission while he was here, and he leapt gracefully up to the second floor and with only a moment's deciding time, he took a flyer off the board and left just as quickly as he had came.

After a few minutes, everyone came to, some faster than others and it took them all a moment to notice the girl laying on the table, who had clearly been severely injured. There were deep lacerations on her arms and legs, as well as a large slash across her back. Her clothes were torn and stained with blood, and she was bruised so badly that most of her skin was purple or blue.

Short, black hair covered her head, and was singed and it seemed that some of the dark locks had been forcefully torn out. Her left cheek had scratches on it, and her bottom lip was swollen and split. Her wounds had stopped bleeding even though they looked fresh, as if they had happened within the last few hours, and she was barely breathing but everyone in the room was for some reason afraid to approach her, as if she might just die if they touched her.

The Master was the first to react, knowing that Mystogan brought her here for a reason and without even knowing who she was, he immediately went over to her and quickly looked her over. He called Gray over, who was there in a flash, and the Master quietly asked him to freeze the girls body. With confusion, and worry about her being thawed out and whether it would kill her or save her, he trusted Makarov's words and very gently froze the girl who only looked to be around 20 or so years old.

"Reedus. Please take her to Porlyusica for treatment. I fear this girl may not survive her injuries, so you must make haste." he said quietly, and Gray took the responsibility of carrying the girl out to Reedus' magical pig drawn cart and gently putting her down in the back.

With that, Reedus left, and everyone went back inside, wondering what exactly just happened. Why did Mystogan all of a sudden turn up, and better yet, why did he bring a half-dead girl back to the guild? Everyone tried so hard to think about if they recognised the girl or had even just seen the girl somewhere, which would help them figure out what was going on.

"Master, what was the last mission that Mystogan took?" Mira asked with her usual soft, sweet voice, hoping that might give them some leads.

"He was going to take care of a dark guild..." he stopped briefly and the solution seemed to come to him before he spoke with an enlightened tone, "that had been attacking villages to the east! She must have been a victim of the attacks. Mystogan wouldn't have brought her here for nothing. There must be something important about her." Master spoke as if he was thinking out loud, although everyone was listening to his words.

All of the guild members felt so angry that a dark guild would do such horrible damage, and chances were that there was countless people that wouldn't be able to see the light of the next day, as well as the innocent civilians that would have been just as badly injured as the mystery girl. Although the nice mood everyone had been in wouldn't return, they were all glad that they might be able to help the girl.

A while later, Reedus returned to tell them about what Porlyusica had said about the girl's injuries and her prognosis. He told them that Porlyusica had said she would need to get rid of all the dark magic out of the girl's system before she could truly be on the mend, and hopefully her wounds wouldn't get the better of her until that time. She had mentioned that Gray's freezing her helped significantly as it slowed the progression of the evil magic breaking down her immune system to nearly a complete stop, which Gray felt a burst of pride at hearing.

The painter said that she didn't say for sure either way whether the girl would survive, just that it would take a lot of work and a lot of will to live from the girl for her to pull through and fully recover. As horrible as it was to not be sure of whether the girl would live or not, they all seemed to have a feeling, though no-one spoke of it, that she would be okay. Porlyusica had said that when the girl began recovering her magical power, it would help as well.

When Reedus mentioned 'magical power', the Master and Erza looked at each other knowingly. It was obvious that there was something very special about this girl. None of them saw any guild marks on her and obviously she was so depleted of magical power, they couldn't even feel it from her, but it answered the question of why Mystogan had brought her back here.

So, they went on with their business, and even though for the rest of the day no one brought up the incident, it was in the back of everyone's mind...

* * *

**One Month Later**

Gray sat high up in a tree in the forest, and sighed long and deeply. Even though everyone was still thinking about it, he seemed to feel like he was more worried about the girl than most of the other guild members. Maybe it was because he felt how frail and destroyed her body was, saw up close the horrific damage done to her, and felt her fractured and broken bones, her bruised and lacerated skin. He felt her broken ribs as he placed his hands on her stomach to freeze her body gently as he could. The sight of the girl in that state had kept him awake at night.

He hoped that since she had survived this long, that it would mean that she would pull through, but as he looked through the window of Porlyusica's house from the all too conveniently placed branch he had sat on for the last few hours, he could see that she still looked so sickly, and painfully gaunt. The older woman had tried to shoo him away several times, since he had visited every second day or so, but he had been allowed to stay since he had quickly come up with the excuse that Makarov had asked him to check up on the girl.

Porlyusica's gasping drew his attention, and his head snapped back towards the window to see that the girls eyes were cracking open. Before he even realised it, he was on the window sill, as Porlyusica quickly looked over the girl for any signs that she might be on the mend now that she had regained consciousness, hopefully meaning that the dark magic preventing her from healing had been dissolved from her system.

Before either Gray or Porlyusica could react, they noticed the girl was crying. When she started trying to move and get up, Porlyusica yelled at her to stay still, and that she would open up her wounds if she moved too much. The girl flinched, but listened and stopped moving but continued crying with so much pain in her bloodshot, vibrant blue eyes, that Gray felt so sorry for her.

Porlyusica mixed up some medicine for the girl who didn't resist to drinking down the mix of ingredients that would help to heal her, even though it tasted absolutely foul. She continued crying quietly for the next little while as Porlyusica mixed up more medicine, and eventually sent Gray to go back to the guild and get Reedus, so they could take her back to Fairy Tail, saying that there wasn't much point in her staying there now that she had regained consciousness, since it would only be the girl's will to live that would heal her wounds and the strength of her magical power.

Gray bolted back to the guild, running in the front door, yelling out that the girl had woken up, putting a smile on everyone's faces, and they were all glad to hear that there was still hope for her. Reedus sprang into action straight away and within an hour or so, the mystery girl, back to being unconscious was placed into the clinic at Fairy Tail with a large bottle of medicine beside her bed and some written instructions from Porlyusica on how to treat her.

* * *

A few more days passed, and the girl woke up again while Mira was getting ready to wake her anyway so that she could take her medicine. She had been healing very quickly, and her wounds had completely closed up thanks to the medicine from Porlyusica. The mystery girl had recovered so much so that she actually looked nearly normal now. Most of the bruising and smaller cuts and grazes had gone completely and it revealed quite a pretty girl underneath.

The beautiful woman with the pale hair smiled kindly, and decided that it would probably be best to tell her where she was and that she was safe. She was certain that the girl would be a little concerned with how she got where she was, and she hoped that she would at least talk back a little.

"Hello. It's good to see you awake at last. I'm Mirajane. This is the mage guild Fairy Tail. One of our members brought you here so we could help you. Our friend has treated you the best she could and made medicine for you. Do you remember anything, like your name, or where you are from?" she asked kindly, not wanting to scare the girl, but wanting to try and figure out if the girl had lost her memory.

It took a few moments for the girl to get used to speaking again, and her voice was weak and raspy from lack of use over the last few weeks and from her throat being so dry. Finally she managed to sit up and organise her words as best she could in her head before saying them aloud.

"Akashio. My name is Akashio or Shio... I'm from...from..." all of a sudden, the girl's expression went from bewildered and pained to horrified and she put her head in her hands and rocked back and forth slightly before screaming so loud that Mira had to cover her ears. It got the attention of everyone in the guild and mostly everyone rushed to the clinic door, wondering if everything was alright.

Gray was the first in the door, and Mira told everyone to leave her be for the moment, and that this was not the time. Mira sat down on the bed with her, and the girl clung to her dress and cried for almost an hour before she eventually calmed down, and apologised for the scene she had made. Gray watched quietly from the corner of the room as the woman's eyes became unfocused as she recalled memories.

"Can you tell me what happened to you?" Mirajane asked, not wanting to bring back painful memories, but she needed to know what happened to the girl. What if she didn't have a home to return to or any family to be with?

"My village, it was attacked. I'm not sure who it was, but I know they used magic. They destroyed buildings, crops and just laid waste to my village. I don't think anyone would have survived because I watched them kill the people I had grown up with. I don't recall too much, but I do remember feeling a huge surge of strength, and I must have killed some of them, because I do recall falling down, and seeing them dead on the ground before I lost consciousness." the girl recalled, her gaze inward as the images flashed behind her eyes again and again.

"Then that's why Mystogan would have brought you back here. It sounds to me like in the heat of the moment, you unlocked your ability to use magic. He probably thought we'd be able to help you heal and train you." Gray spoke up, making Akashio's pained gaze fall on him.

"Mystogan?" Akashio inquired not knowing his name for obvious reasons.

"He was the guild member I mentioned earlier, the man that brought you back here so we could help you. He would have also destroyed what we think was a dark guild that attacked your village." Mira answered, telling Akashio what she didn't know.

"He took them all on, by himself?! That's impossible! They were so strong." she exclaimed in shock, not believing that one man could take on that many people, and win.

"Mystogan is one of our strongest members. There aren't many people as strong or stronger than him. Although, he is socially inept, and barely any of us ever sees him. Only a few people even know what he looks like as well. But Mystogan is very strong, I have no doubt he could take a whole guild down by himself if he put his mind to it. He's done it before." Mirajane explained to her while the other woman shook her head in disbelief.

No one spoke for a few minutes as Akashio stared at her lap in silence, wondering what on earth she was going to do now. These people had mentioned her ability to use magic being awakened, and that they could train her, but did she want to use the same powers that those horrible people had used to slaughter so many people that she held close to her heart. For some reason though, something was telling her that she had already awakened her abilities with magic.

For at least 5 minutes, she was deep in thought and laid out the pros and cons. The good parts would be that she could defend herself, she could help people and protect people who couldn't protect themselves, much like she couldn't before her power awoke. The bad part was that she would have the strength to kill and hurt people, and maybe the people she loved would hate her for learning the arts that had killed them.

Mira was the first to break the silence. "Well, you are more than welcome to stay here, and we'd welcome you into the guild with open arms and help you develop your skills as a mage, but it's your choice. If you like, you could just stay here and help out anyway. We'll leave you to rest for a while. Let me know if you need anything."

Both Mira and Gray took their leave, and Akashio sat quietly, thinking over what Mirajane had said, and wondering whether it would be the right move. For the moment, she knew that she couldn't go anywhere yet, since she was still on the mend, so she decided to put off the decision until she was in shape enough to leave if she chose to.

A breeze came in through the window, and she jumped after seeing a masked man crouching on the window sill. She gauged that the masked man was the person called Mystogan, and he watched her silently for a moment before he spoke very quietly.

"I'm glad you are recovering so well. It seems I made the right move in bringing you here. Also, I'm sorry I couldn't save the other villagers." he said it as if it was just an idle observation, and then his tone changed to reveal a hint of sadness as she struggled for a second to find her voice before she responded.

"Thank you and don't worry, it wasn't your fault.. I would have been dead if it wasn't for you. I have a question to ask you...What did I do before I lost consciousness?" she asked hesitantly, unsure if she really wanted to know the answer to her question.

"You killed 6 of the enemy. I watched you as I took care of the others. I will tell you now though, the numbers there only equaled to a quarter of the true size of the dark guild. But you showed extreme potential. So much so that the force of your magic power made those wounds on your body. It was not your time for the magic inside you to awaken, or to awaken so violently." he was quiet for a moment as he watched her expression sober, and she sighed before looking back at him. "Now I must go. Again, I am sorry for your loss." he bowed his head slightly and leapt down as Akashio yelled out thanks to him again.

She laid down in the clinic bed, so many thoughts running through her mind. The young woman decided to get some sleep and continue her healing process...

* * *

The next day Mirajane woke her to give her some medicine. As per usual, it tasted horrible, but she had figured out very early that it was the thing keeping her alive, so she took it without a complaint.

"I don't know if this means much to you, but I have a few seeds for some flowers. If you like, I can show you to our garden and you can plant them, to honour the people in your village." the older woman said quietly, hoping she wouldn't upset Akashio, but thinking that it was the least she could do for her.

Akashio sobbed softly but smiled at the gesture and hugged Mirajane tightly, thanking her over and over again for her kindness, her care and just being generally wonderful. Mirajane left the girl some clean clothes of her to change into for when she went to the garden and left the seeds and a small shovel for her to use whilst planting the seeds.

After she changed, she went outside the clinic door to the main room of the Fairy Tail hall. A man was leaning against the wall with his back to her, but she knew she had seen him before. He turned around and smiled at her, though she could see that he felt sorry for her behind it.

"I'm Gray Fullbuster..." he paused and took a breath before continuing, "And you are Akashio?" Gray asked, and watched Akashio simply nod once in response. "Would you like to go to the garden?" Again, she nodded only once. "Follow me then."

Mirajane watched as Gray walked next to Akashio, and smiled even though she had planned to show Akashio to the garden herself, it seemed like Gray still felt terrible for the girl and was happy that he was kind enough to show her to the garden.

Gray had spoken to Mirajane early one morning when he came back to the guild after not being able to sleep all night after seeing Akashio's injuries up close. He told her about how deep the red colour of her flesh was, and how he could see the white of her bones in some of her deeper lacerations, and the feel of broken ribs beneath his hands.

He had seemed very haunted by the memory, and had helped Mira set up for the day to distract himself, but he still was a little out of sorts for the next few days afterwards until she had asked the Master to send him up to check on her progress only to find out he had been doing it already.

"I, uhh...I'm sorry about what happened to you and your village." Gray said awkwardly, hoping he wouldn't upset the girl, even though he much rather scream and beat up the guys that did this sort of thing all over Fiore every day.

She gave him a small, heartbreakingly sad smile in return but turned her head back towards her feet again afterwards as they walked towards the Fairy Tail gardens. Akashio was clutching the packet of seeds and the trowel so hard that the parts of her hands that the bruising had cleared up on were white with the force of her grip.

When they arrived, Gray showed her a large, free patch of the garden where she could plant the seeds, and it took her about half an hour before she was done. Before she realised it, Gray handed her a full watering can without actually looking at her, and walked away to let her have a moment to herself.

Her moment lasted about ten to fifteen minutes, and Gray was sure that all of Magnolia, heard her screams of anguish, despair and rage.

It only stopped when she passed out from exhaustion.

Gray carried her in his arms back to the clinic where the members of the guild watched sadly as the girl went behind the door and disappeared to get some more rest. The young ice mage decided to stay a while, since it was quiet in the clinic and watch over Akashio for a while.

Eventually, he fell asleep on the spare bed right next to Shio's...


	2. The Healing Process

**Chapter 2 – The Healing Process**

Over the next few weeks, Shio visited and tended to her flowers every day and cried here and there, but she was gradually coming to terms with everything that had happened. Her wounds began to heal more and more, and her deepest wounds were gone after a few healing sessions with Wendy.

Shio was so impressed with the young girl's abilities and asked her a few questions with a voice a little louder than a whisper and Wendy told her about Grandine and just rambled on for the time they had together, hoping that Shio would feel more comfortable with someone talking to her so she wasn't on her own.

"There you go. That should be nearly everything. The traces of dark magic have been erased and your own magical power has been restored so you should be fine to be up most of the day, but just take it easy for the next few weeks." Wendy said with such a sweet voice that made Shio _almost_ smile.

"Thank you so much, Wendy-san. You must be extremely strong." Shio nodded slowly as a sign of respect and amazement while she got up off the bed and stretched out, feeling much better.

"No, not really. I just back everyone up. There are many others here that are way stronger than me." the young girl responded shyly, but she was grateful for the compliment and blushed lightly over it.

Shio followed Wendy to the main hall, where Natsu and Gray were fighting and Gray went tumbling in mid-air so close to Shio's face that she could feel the air blowing past her and watched him land up against the bar, upside down and half-naked.

Everyone watched in awe and happiness as Shio actually snorted from suppressed laughter quietly, before chuckling quietly at the ice mage. The main hall erupted like a volcano with happy cheers and laughter and everyone crowded around Shio and wished her their best, telling her how happy they were to see that she was doing well. Shio was overwhelmed by how kind and generous everyone had been, letting her stay with them for so long and not asking for anything in return.

After a few minutes some guild members approached her and the Master who had been incredibly kind to her, and Mirajane said that they would pay for a room for her in the Fairy Hills apartment block until she got set up and decided what she wanted to do.

The girl started crying, and everyone went quiet, until she lifted her head up. The huge grin on her face was the most amazing thing they had seen from her, since her tears were out of happiness. She thanked everyone for being so wonderful through her tears and sobs, and Mirajane hugged her tightly while some other guild members smiled and some cried out of happiness as well.

The rest of the day and night were spent celebrating in true Fairy Tail style. There was plenty of food, drink, fights, jokes, laughs and even an improptude live show from a few of the musically talented members of the guild, and Lucy summoned her spirit Lyra, who sang some beautiful music.

Everyone was very surprised when Lyra began singing a song that even Shio knew, and with a shy voice at first, she began to join everyone in singing, before getting louder and louder and everyone noticed almost straight away how beautiful her voice was, and stopped singing one by one and eventually it was just Lyra and Shio singing, but when the song ended, Shio realised and went silent, drawing back into herself before an unfamiliar face came out of nowhere and put his arm around her shoulder then complimented her on her singing.

"Loke, what are you doing here?!" Gray shouted and tugged him off Shio, before punching him in the stomach in a typical Fairy Tail male greeting.

"I could hear you guys partying all the way from the celestial realm. I was wondering who the new lovely lady was." Loke chuckled knowingly as Gray put himself between Loke and Shio.

Shio just chuckled and seemed flattered by the attention, and then introduced herself to Loke. The lion man tried to start talking about how he was a celestial spirit and how 'exotic' that was, and how strong he was, but Gray butted in about half-way through a sentence that would have ended with Loke asking Shio out on a date, and squished Loke's face with one hand, stopping him from speaking, grabbed Shio's hand, pulling her through the crowd and outside to where there was a full moon out.

"Sorry. He was going to ask you out if I let him continue and I didn't really think it would be...uh...appropriate." Gray fumbled and trailed off, not knowing what to say any more.

"That's okay. I didn't really mind. I've already been asked out a few times tonight anyway. I've never received that sort of attention before. It's kind of nice to know that everyone likes me." she chuckled lightly with a bit of a flush on her face.

"Well, as long as no one is bothering you, I guess.." Gray scratched the back of his head and gave her a lop-sided smile while she looked up at the moon. "Do you think you are going to stay here?" he asked after a few minutes of silence.

"Um, I think I will. I've thought about learning magic, and I think it might be exactly what I need now. My village is gone and there isn't anything left there for me anyway. Besides everyone is so amazing here and uh, you guys must be a force to be reckoned with." Shio said with awe in her voice and chuckled.

"Hm, you haven't seen anything yet." Gray said as his chest puffed out and pride filled him. "We have taken on the world and impossible odds more than enough times and won." he continued and let the pride flow through his voice. "Do you want to see something cool?" he asked with a mischevious look on his face, making Shio wonder what he would possibly have up his sleeve.

He put his hands together for a minute before smirking proudly at her and opening up his hands to reveal a little ice sculpture in her likeness. Even though she was currently wearing a shirt and pair of shorts, the sculpture had her in a beautiful flowing dress and a happy smile on her face. She laughed in amazement. Gray looked behind him and the sculpture disappeared, but his dark smirk kept Shio interested.

"Watch this." he said quietly with a smirk that made her flush lightly.

She nodded and shivered all of a sudden from a sudden temperature drop, only to look at Gray and see him strip off his shirt for whatever reason and put his hands on the ground. Ice began to form on the ground and her eyes followed it to see a pink-haired man who she had met weeks ago named Natsu slip head over feet about 30-40 metres away.

Natsu roared and melted the ice with his flames, making Shio's eyes as wide as saucers in amazement, recognising him as the Fire Dragon Slayer that Wendy had mentioned. Gray pulled one arm back to make a fist on top of his other hand and Shio watched carefully.

"Ice Make: Bow." he spoke quietly and continued, "Ice Make: Arrows."

He pulled back on the bow with an arrow ready to be fired as Natsu came hurtling towards them, screaming louder than a bat out of hell about how he was going to get Gray back for making him slip. Even though Shio was a little worried about Gray hurting Natsu, but when he fired the bow, then again for a second, third, fourth and fifth time, she saw that she was just firing at Natsu's feet, making him hop and skip to avoid the freezing arrows.

Shio was laughing and Gray was laughing, and by the time that Natsu got to them he had run out of energy and laid down on the ground in front of them, puffing and panting. Just as Natsu got back up and went to start the chase, Gray took a hold of Shio's hand and ran off, twisting and turning down the nearby streets until they could no longer hear Natsu yelling out into the night.

They doubled over, trying to catch their breath whilst laughing as well. Shio could not believe how much fun she was having here. Everyone had been so amazing to her and helped her through her grief and let her become one of them.

"I think we should be getting back. This is pretty much your party." Gray said with a still breathless voice.

"Yeah, that's a good idea. Thanks for a good laugh though." Akashio chuckled again, still catching her own breath, being in much worse shape than Gray, who was shirtless in front of her. Not that she would complain or anything. She was certain that it was because she was still recovering, not affected by the half-naked...attractive...man. No. Not at all.

When they got back, Master found them straight away and yelled loudly across the hall for silence. Meaning everyone was silent as the grave and nearly wet themselves out of fright. Master definitely knew how to scare people, that's for sure.

"I would like to make an announcement to the lovely young lady who we are happy to have here with us after she went through something no one should have to go through and came out the other side stronger than ever before." Master turned to her and smiled. "This is my formal invitation to you, Akashio. Would you like to join Fairy Tail and become part of our treasured family?"

The entire hall waited for her answer with baited breath. She hadn't even spoken to Mirajane about staying or not staying yet, so it was really only Gray that knew she had planned on staying here to learn magic and become part of Fairy Tail. She looked at him and saw him smirking knowingly at her.

"I think that learning how to control and use my magic will help me protect those that cannot protect and defend themselves. Also to protect my wonderful new friends." she stopped speaking and looked confused for a moment. "No, wait...my wonderful new _family_ called Fairy Tail."

Everyone cheered so loudly that she had to cover her ears but she laughed happily all the same. Mirajane walked up next to her and asked her where she would like the guild mark. With not much thought, she looked down at her body, and the shirt she was wearing that was a little too small for her showed some of her stomach, and her hips. She pointed to her right hip, and Mira put it just above the waist line to her shorts and she grinned happily as the purple symbol was added to her body, and her soul.

The party found an even more exciting reason to continue and it kept going until all hours of the night. It only took a few more hours for Cana to be passed out with her head on the bar, Master to be snoring, Macao and Wakaba to be stumbling home, Romeo dragging them along, and people seemed to be pairing up here and there as per usual.

Alzac and Bisca were walking out the front doors, holding each other close. Elfman was sitting at one of the tables with Evergreen and she was touching Elfman's hand, and even Natsu was sitting quietly while Lucy dozed lightly, laying her head on his chest while Natsu gently ran his fingers through her hair.

Shio was looking around at people waving goodbye, stumbling off in the direction of their home, and people asleep at the bar, tables and on the floor as well. She had a few drinks herself, and was feeling quite a buzz, but these guys were on a whole other level. Her village used to have festivals here and there, but this was out of her league.

Nonetheless, she had so much fun anyway. Wendy was walking over to her and she was surprised that the young girl was still up. Her ponytails moved along with her stride and she grinned happily when she got closer to the older woman.

"Would you like me to show you where your new place is?" she whispered, since Shio was standing next to a sleeping mage who was slumped over the bar, who she quickly recognised as Erza with the long red hair and armour.

Shio simply nodded in response and waved goodbye to anyone who was still awake, most waved back or just grinned back at her, and she scanned the room for the ice mage who she had taken a bit of a liking to, though she didn't really want to admit it to herself, but she couldn't find him.

After giving up, guessing that he may have fallen asleep somewhere or gone home, she followed Wendy for the walk to Fairy Hills. It was absolutely beautiful and she couldn't have been happier. They walked inside the large dormitory, hearing people sleeping, some much louder than others.

On the second floor, Wendy turned to a door and gave her a key. Shio thanked her several times and Wendy just smiled happily and bowed before saying goodnight and heading off to her own room. Shio turned the key once it was in the lock and hoped that everyone hadn't gone to too much effort for her.

The light was already on when she opened the door, and her eyes went wide as saucers as she saw the result of everyone's kindness. There was a small kitchen that she wouldn't use because she couldn't cook at all, but it was there anyway with food items, utensils and little bits and pieces. Over the other side of the room there was a small sitting area and since it was in front of a large window, she guessed that it would be lovely to watch the sunset from.

A small seperate room was next to the sitting area, and she approached the open door to find a sort of en suite waiting for her. The bed was huge and looked like the biggest sleep trap and had a pair of pyjamas laid out on it, and the small bathroom through another door was shiny, clean and just perfect. There was open drawers with clothes in them and a note from the Fairy Tail girls who had given her some of their own clothes.

The whole place was just perfect, and she grinned happily and laughed to herself and turned back around to shut the front door so she could get some sleep. A familiar face was waiting at the front door, giving her a lopsided smirk that did funny things to her insides as he leant against the door frame.

"Are you part of this gift?" Shio blurted out without thinking, and when Gray's eyes widened, she quickly continued. "I can clean, so I'm hoping you are going to be my cook, since I can't make anything edible."

"Sorry to disappoint. But I have just realised how late it is and if you let me sleep on your couch, I'll cook breakfast for us when we get up." his smirk widened as he watched Shio almost drool at the thought of breakfast.

"Deal."

Gray took the key from the lock on the door and shut it behind him, tossing her the key which she fumbled a few times before getting a good grip on, inwardly thinking how stupid she must have just looked.

When she lifted her head up, she noticed that he wasn't even paying any attention to her failed attempt at being coordinated and had stripped off his jacket and shirt, and was already making himself comfortable on the lounge with his eyes closed.

Her eyes lingered for a moment but when he shifted a little, the young woman quickly did a full 360 turn on the spot, remembering to turn the main light off. It was right next to the door which made it easy for her to find and she headed towards her bedroom, not even thinking to shut the door, even as she found the pyjamas in one of the various drawers, and changed into them.

Now that she was here, she didn't quite feel like sleeping yet and tip-toed past Gray's temporary bed and over to the kitchen, using the light of the moon to see find the fridge, and get herself a bottle of water. As an afterthought, she grabbed out another and put it gently down on the coffee table in front of Gray but stopped to look at him unchecked for a moment. Her eyes fell on his Fairy Tail mark, but didn't go past the rest of him.

"I'm not asleep, you know." Gray spoke and made Shio nearly jump out of her skin in fright and she dropped her bottle of water which connected with Gray's head with a thud.

"I'm sorry!" she apologised a few more times, but Gray just chuckled and sat up on the lounge. "Are you okay? I didn't mean to drop the bottle on your head, I was just looking at you...y-your Fairy Tail mark." she swiftly corrected herself so he wouldn't get the wrong idea, even though it was kind of true anyway.

"It's okay. You don't need to worry so much. Seriously." he chuckled at her antics and watched as she sat down on the small single seater next to the lounge he was making a bed out of.

"Sorry. I'm just frazzled. All this is amazing but I just don't know where to start. I feel like I'm still not here." she trailed off, with two fingers on her right temple as she shook her head.

"What do you mean not here?"

"I feel like I'm going to wake up and the destruction of my village, coming here and meeting everyone will all be a big dream. Either that or I just died from my injuries and I'm stuck in some sort of weird limbo. I feel like this is all still surreal."

"That makes sense. Everything has piled on you at once. You are still grieving and so you should be. Because you are still mourning for what you have lost, your mind and heart is still in your village, not here. Before you start your training, you need to give yourself time for this. You will know when you are ready to start fully using your magic."

Gray's words just made sense to her and it was like a little light bulb slowly flickered on in her mind. He was right. She could still feel that physical ache in her chest whenever she thought of the friends and family she had lost and the life that had gone with them and the village.

It was just going to take time for her to adjust. She had been here at Fairy Tail for a little over 3 months but that was still a small amount of time considering all that had happened. Two weeks of that was spent in practically a coma in Porlyushica's care and afterwards it was mostly a daze up until she could be up for more than a few hours at a time. It had been a hard process but she knew that Gray was right.

"Not just a pretty face, are you?" Shio smirked at the young man and chuckled when he smirked back.

"Of course not. You don't get to become one of the stronger members of Fairy Tail without having some intelligence. Though I don't know how much can be said for Natsu..." he trailed off and they both burst out laughing enjoying the moment while it lasted.

"Yeah, I think it may be a fair bit of luck on his part. And Lucy is pretty smart, so I'm sure she covers for him and makes up for his lack of sense."

"You couldn't be more right. Our team works well though. Erza is good for plenty of things beside fighting. Lucy is smart, as you said and her spirits are very resourceful. Natsu's brute strength never fails and Wendy's abilities are really helpful and impressive."

"What about you?"

"Me? Well I'm just an all rounder. Good at everything."

The smirk he had on his face made Shio a little weak at the knees and she was glad she was sitting down for this. She didn't know how much about relationships and all that since she had never been involved with anyone.

In her village, her parents had organised for her to marry some guy from the next village over but she had only met him once. He was an asshole. Her parents wouldn't let her back out since they made a commitment but she couldn't figure out why she had been forced into it instead of letting her live her life.

As angry as that had made her, she missed her family. She didn't have many friends aside from a girl a few years younger than her who was the daughter of the village chief. Magnolia was such a different place to all that. Her village was small with a few hundred people, not much technology and small houses with the bare essentials.

The size of the Fairy Tail hall could have fit at least 3 or 4 houses from her village inside it. Her apartment now was the most luxurious thing had ever seen, let alone had free reign of.

Gray noticed that Shio's thoughts had turned inward and he watched as memories passed behind her eyes and her fingers fiddled with one another as she contemplated her short comings.

"There is always a silver lining, Shio. Everything will be okay." he abruptly spoke without thinking and she simply smiled at him in response. "Now go get some sleep. I'm sure you need it."

"Goodnight and uh, thank you."

"Night."

* * *

The next morning she awoke to the smell of breakfast being cooked. It smelt amazing and she didn't bother getting changed before coming out of her room and into the kitchen/living area. Gray looked absolutely gorgeous standing half naked in front of the stove, cooking up some bacon and preparing two meals.

He turned to her, smiled and said good morning then continued to make breakfast. It only took a couple of minutes for him to finish and serve up bacon, eggs and toast with a glass of juice each. After the first bite Shio was in heaven.

"This is amazing, Gray-san. Thank you so much." she mumbled with her mouth half full.

"Thank you for letting me crash here. It's still only fairly early so no one will be at the hall yet unless they are still there from last night."

"Are you going to go back there today?"

"Yeah. We have a mission to go on and we organised to leave today so we should be gone for a few days so I'm meeting up with everyone at the hall. You can look after yourself in the meantime, right?"

"Hah hah. Very funny. I'll be fine. I'm going to go to the hall soon anyway so I'll see you before you go."

After a bit more conversation, Gray finished off his breakfast and left her be, though he did rinse off his dishes and clean up most of his mess which made life a bit easier for the slightly hungover girl. She showered and got changed into some clean clothes that looked like they belonged to Levy. They were a bit frilly but nice and Shio was just happy to have something to wear.

The young girl headed over to the mead hall of the guild and smiled seeing Mirajane there still cleaning up from last night. Shio began to help and it went much quicker with the two of them doing it and it helped Shio figure out what she would be doing working here up until she was able to go on missions and make money off them to support herself.

When everything was done, Mirajane said that she was going to help her train and get her used to using her magic so they came out behind the bar and sat down in a small space on the floor. Shio remembered what Gray said last night and felt like it wasn't such a bad time to start. She needed to learn how to use her magical power before she could start learning spells and abilities.

Mira ran her through how to begin using her magical power by concentrating and it took Shio about a half hour before she got the hang of it. Without being sure what sort of magic she used, it would be hard to tell how to properly utilise it until she learnt how to control her magical power and just give it a go.

People began slowly coming back in to get some food from the bar and Mira said for Shio to go to the training grounds and continue on with her meditation. She was sitting with her legs crossed and concentrating very hard until she heard someone approach her. Her eyes opened to see the Master looking at her with a bit of confusion on his face.

He sat down with her and told her to continue and try to release more magical power. With a nod Shio kept going even though she was starting to get tired. It only took a few minutes of pushing herself harder before there wasn't anything else for her release and she stopped, catching her breath while the master looked at her, still seeming perlexed about something.

"You are coming along well but something seems a little off to me. I'm not sure what it is so rest for today and I'll do some research."

He strolled off leaving Shio sitting on the ground wondering what could possibly be wrong. Was she doing it incorrectly? Why did something feel off to him?

Before her train of thought could continue she headed back inside to see Gray, Erza, Lucy, Natsu, Happy, Wendy and Charle saying bye to everyone. Gray noticed her and ran over to her, letting her know that they would be gone for a few days and to continue her training while they were gone. He put a hand on her shoulder and smiled before turning away and going back to his group.

Shio smiled and bid them all goodbye and watched them walk out the double doors before her eyes spotted Master talking to Levy about something. Her anxiety increased and she just heard Levy say something about going to the Fairy Tail library and having a look. Mira got her attention and asked her to give her a hand since there was more and more mages pouring in now, some wanting food and drink, others getting a mission and Shio pushed the unsure thoughts from her mind and helped out the best she could.

A few hours later it was quiet again and Mira told Shio to head home and get some rest but to keep trying to increase her magical power so she could start to master her magic style. Instead of going straight home, the girl wandered around the town for a while. She visited the garden and 'spoke' to her family and friends for a bit before she eventually made her way home the long way, familiarising, herself with the city a bit more.

She felt a little bit empty after visiting the garden and she was trying not to spend all her time there since it just seemed to make her despair every time. The pain was fading but when she was alone and had nothing to do, it sat at the front of her mind, and brought her down.

So when she got home, instead of showering and keeping her busy with tidying up, cooking, and so on, she practised even though she was worn out from earlier. As she sat there, concentrating, air swirling around her from the force of her magical power, she felt a sudden sharp pain in her arm and at the same time, her minds eye showed her an image of a demonic looking creature. It snapped her out of her reverie and when she looked down at her arm, she saw a small gash that began to bleed, but the blood did not continue to well up and go all over her arm. It just stayed there.

She looked around, wondering what could have possibly caused that and was left with no explanation. The warm, red liquid stayed in the wound on her arm and she grabbed a small cloth from the bathroom to hold over it. It continued to sting and she could feel the throb of the blood flowing towards the wound though she did her best to keep the pressure on it. Even though the cloth was covered with blood, and she felt light headed, the amount of blood that she would have lost from that sort have wound just didn't appear. It was weird.

After a few minutes the blood stopped appearing and she showered before bandaging it up herself, still confused as to how it happened. It was very odd but she gave up on figuring it out and tidied up her small apartment and cooked herself something to eat before settling in for the night.

As she slept, the image of that demonic creature haunted her dreams and turned them into nightmares...

* * *

Several days later Akashio was tidying up the mead hall at the Fairy Tail guild. It was early in the day and Mira would be arriving soon to take over from her. She was collection cups and mugs and placed them in the washer before stopped to get herself a drink of water.

The doors to the hall creaked open and she was surprised she didn't hear the ruckus with them shut. Natsu and Gray were arguing as per usual and Lucy was rolling her eyes while Erza ignored the two men. Happy, Charle and Wendy were trailing tiredly behind them.

"Welcome back. How did the mission go?" Shio asked them, smiling at their return.

"It was fine, except for these two butting heads constantly." Lucy shook her head and laughed exasperatedly, before sitting down at the bar and requesting a cold drink and Erza sooner joined her.

"Shio!" Gray's voice sounded out and got her attention and she came out from behind the bar with a cold drink of water for Wendy who looked thoroughly worn out.

Gray put an arm around her waist and rested his head on her shoulder, then proceeded to complain about Natsu before sighing loudly. Shio was surprised at the sudden physical contact but wasn't going to deny it from the man she definitely had a crush on. She offered to grab everyone else a cold drink and pulled herself away from Gray and got the clean mugs before she served up one for everyone.

Moments later, Mira walked in the front doors and smiled at all of them. She approached the bar and got ready for the day, grabbing Wendy's empty cup on the way through and suggesting that they all head home for some rest.

Wendy quickly departed and Charle followed suit. Natsu and Lucy headed back to wherever they were going with Happy flying behind. Erza begna the stroll back to Fairy Hills and thanked Shio for the drink. Gray was the straggler and waited for Shio to finish so he could walk out with her. She went to the garden quickly and tended to the flowers before heading in the direction of her home, making conversation with Gray about the mission.

"Isn't your place in that direction?" Shio asked, pointing down a small street in the large city.

"Yep."

"So, why are you going this way?"

"Cause I can."

"But why?"

"I'm walking you home."

"It's okay. Just go and get some rest."

"A-are you sure?"

"I'll be fine." Shio gave Gray the sweetest smile she had, grateful for the gesture. "Thank you anyway."

"Okay. I'll see you tomorrow then." Gray turned in the direction of his place and began to walk away, but turned back just enough to smile at Shio who waved at him before continuing home herself."

He strolled casually back to his one bedroom unit he called home. It was cheap on rent and nothing fancy, but that's how he liked it. Simple. The mission was really easy and loads of fun, but his mind kept going back to Shio. Her actions lately had seemed a little odd. Almost like Juvia before Lyon had won her over, somehow...

But Shio seemed really sweet and shy. She was a very nice girl and he was glad that she hasn't perished from her terrible injuries. He could still see the sadness in her eyes, even when she was smiling and hoped that her time with Fairy Tail would help her overcome the hardships she had faced.

Natsu had mentioned that he had a feeling Shio had a crush on the ice mage when they were travelling towards their destination the other day and even Lucy had agreed. Gray had just thought they were teasing him like they always did about Juvia. But when Erza had casually made her input, he had a feeling that it wasn't just an odd obsession or a crush.

_"I think she genuinely likes you Gray. She is a nice girl but probably a little too shy to admit to anything." Erza spoke so calmly that Gray didn't know if she was being serious or taking the piss as well._

_"She had asked about you a few times when I was doing healing sessions with her." Wendy spoke up, her young voice standing out as always._

_"No way. She has barely gotten a chance to get to know anyone aside Mira, the Master and myself. She is just familiar with me is all."_

_"And you can't say that you don't like her. I've seen your wandering eyes, Gray Fullbuster!" Lucy added with a very amused look._

_"Yeah. Even I can notice that." Natsu laughed and looked very obviously down at Lucy's chest, as if that was what Gray had done and his words and actions were enough for the ice mage to get cranky._

_"That's it. Enough about Shio. I'm not convinced and until I am I don't want to hear about it."_

He had definitely checked her out a few times. But he was a normal, red blooded young male who was simply noticing how attractive Shio was once all her injuries and bruises had healed. Okay, maybe he had walked behind her for a bit on the way home to look at her bum in the small, tight fitting shorts she was wearing, but there wasn't any harm in that, right?

The ice mage shook his head and sighed. He guessed that he would just have to wait and see what happened...

 


	3. Ebb and Flow

**Chapter 3 – Ebb And Flow**

Several weeks had passed since the big party, and Akashio had been following the instruction of Mirajane and also of the Master. He had still not gotten back to her about his researching whatever it was with her magic and increasing her control over it. She still wasn't sure about what was her magical abilitiy/abilities, but she had noticed that every time she used her magic to an increased extent, she would get random odd wounds.

They were just simple cuts that would almost heal completely in a day or so. It was very weird considering she had never done anything like this before, and she hoped that it wasn't the same with everyone, and that she wouldn't have to keep patching herself up all the time. Also, there was the weird thing with the blood that she couldn't even explain at all.

"Shio-chan! Shio-chan!"

Shio turned around to see Levy running towards her and the Master trailing behind her. Hopefully they would have some answers for her. She still had a bandage over her forearm that she needed to cover a rather deep cut that she had gotten from nearly exhausting herself to the point of passing out.

"Shio. I have figured out what was keeping me on edge when I could feel your magical power. Your village used to be part of an ancient city and there was supposedly great magic that one child in each generation inherited. It has been a few hundred years since then, but the old magic is incredibly strong. I believe what you have is this power. Was there any odd buildings near your village?" the Master spoke to her with a frown on his face, furthering her concern.

"There is...was a small building at the top of the mountain my village was located on. But we weren't allowed to go up there. We didn't use magic either. No one did."

"That building is probably the one described in this book. It was the place where the child chosen from each generation was taken to receive their power. The ability was one to control demons, though at the cost of the user's blood." Levy made her input, but the same frown that the Master had was on her face as well.

"I believe that is why you gain wounds from when you are using your magical power excessively. It also explains the images of demons you are seeing when releasing power and when you are dreaming. Possibly also the lack of blood that comes from your wounds as well. It's being taken as payment." the Master hoped that the girl would understand all of this, and how hard it would be for her to use magic without harming herself.

"So, what do I do?" she asked, confused as to what would happen from now on.

"The better control you have over your magical power, the less you will receive injury. Also, it states here that you must learn the demons names to be able to summon them and gain control over them. There is one creature per person and there are three stages to the control. There is a summoning stage, the second is a partial transformation, and the third is unknown. The page was ripped."

"Okay. But I'll have to learn how to use this to my advantage at some stage, won't I? Shouldn't I do it as quickly as possible to figure out how to use the summon and get control over it?"

"Yes. The less injury you get each time you use your magic, the better." Levy nodded as she spoke.

"How can I learn to summon the creature then?" Shio was starting to lose more and more faith the more the Master and Levy spoke.

"That's just the thing. We don't know how. But Levy had the idea that maybe you could go to the building at the top of the mountain and see if there was anything left behind." Master was hoping that this wouldn't upset the girl, as hard as it may be for her.

A few silent minutes passed, and Akashio weighed up her options. It seemed that things would get harder before they got easier. But she understood that this seemed to be what fate had in store for her, and what Gray had said about her having time to get past everything was definitely going to come in handy. It would be the time where she could really say goodbye to her village and everything it used to hold for her. She was scared of having to do it alone.

"I don't have to go there on my own, do I?"

"Of course you don't. I'll go with you."

A familiar voice spoke from behind her and she spun around to see Gray looking at her with intense eyes. He smiled wistfully at her, but there was a hint of sadness in it, knowing what would lay in wait for them at what was left of her village. She nodded at him in return, taking a deep breath as she absorbed all the information she had been given.

"There you go. You already have a companion. I suggest the quicker you leave the better. The more knowledge I have, the more I can help you." Master was glad to see that someone had already offered to help and nodded in approval. "Leave first thing tomorrow morning, so go home and get some rest Shio. I know you've worked hard today."

"Thank you, Master. We will return as quickly as possible."

Shio thanked Levy as the Master walked away and she wished her and Gray the best of luck before walking over to the table Jet and Droy were sitting at, both looking pleased to see her. Shio knew that she had been working very hard to research her magic at the Master's request, so she hadn't seen them very much. There was another certain someone who had an affinity for metal that had been missing her as well, even if he didn't realise it himself.

"You don't have to accompany me you know. I don't really have anything to pay you with, obviously." the young girl said to the ice madoushi.

"I actually have a delivery mission in that area. I just have to pick up a package and drop it off to someone in Magnolia, so it's not like there is absolutely no reason for me to go." he explained simply, shrugging lightly.

"Oh okay. So it's not like you just wanted to spend some time with me or anything." Akashio laughed as if she was joking, but if Gray were to say yes, she would have flushed so red she would look like a tomato.

"I didn't mean to offend you." Gray looked at his feet when he spoke, his eyes downcast.

"Anyway. If we are leaving tomorrow, I guess I should get us some supplies. I've still got plenty of stuff in my new place so I'll pack up some of it. I think from here it should take us about 2-3 days to get back to my old village."

"Yeah, okay. Would you like to leave at dawn? If so, I should just crash at your place so we can leave first thing."

"Sounds good. I'll meet you back at my place."

Shio strolled out of Fairy Tail, waving to Mirajane on her way out, after letting her know what was going on, though she probably knew anyway, and thanked Levy again for her help. She didn't know what would be laying ahead on this trip or what she would discover. She was already scared about her magic and the consequences of it usage. This would just be another thing she would have to overcome though.

At least she wouldn't be on her own...

* * *

The next morning she woke up and got Gray up, then they ate a good breakfast before leaving. They would be travelling for quite a while after heading out of the city and towards her old village. Shio was quite nervous about being alone with him for so long, but also about what was going to happen. She was worried she would annoy him, or disappoint him, though it's not like she could possibly be any more useless than she already was, so that probably would be pretty hard.

Gray had planned for them to stay overnight at an inn about a day and half worth of solid travel away, so they would at least be halfway there by the time they stopped. It seemed like a good plan, so they headed out, ready to face whatever was ahead.

They didn't say much when they travelled, only a bit of light conversation when they stopped for food and water on the way, but every time Shio would just smile and not say anything since she felt too embarrassed to actually have a conversation with the ice mage, who just talked quietly about random things to do with magic and the magical world to keep Shio informed. She was happy to sit there and hear him speak.

When they came to the village that they planned to stay overnight in, it was starting to get dark and they headed into the lobby area. There was a older woman behind the reception desk who smiled happily at them and welcomed them both to the inn.

Gray did the talking since Shio was a little too shy in his presence to do it herself, but when the receptionist said that the only room they had available was a double sharing room, Shio found even less of a reason to speak.

"I don't mind sharing a bed. Is that okay with you, Shio-san?" Gray turned to look at her, and though his face was innocent, Shio's mind ran off with her and she blushed but nodded.

The receptionist seemed to pick up on Shio's crush on her travelling companion, and definitely seemed to enjoy making her feel more embarrassed. "I'm sure the young man can keep his hands to himself, unless you don't want him to, that is!" she chuckled loudly and Shio's face felt so hot, she was sure that there was steam coming out of her ears.

Gray didn't seem to notice Shio's horrible embarrassment, and instead smiled awkwardly and thanked the woman after she handed them their key and pointed to what door their room was through. Shio felt as if all the water in the her body had just been evaporated, so when she got into the room, she opened up the fresh bottle of water from her pack and drained it completely, though she was still blushing madly.

"Shio." Gray's voice caught her attention and she turned around only to kind of regret doing so.

He had already stripped off his jacket and his shirt, and was laying across the bed on his back, and looking over at her. The young woman turned straight back around and 'hmm'-ed in response to him, hoping that he would just let her stand there and contain herself for a minute while he spoke.

"Which side of the bed do you want?" he asked casually, and yawned as he stretched out, making Shio glance at his muscles moving and rippling out of the corner of her eye.

"I don't mind. Whatever side you don't sleep on." she managed to keep her voice fairly level, though the Shio inside her brain was doing triple-back-somersaults.

Gray just groaned in reply, and she grabbed some fresh clothes to sleep in from her pack and headed through to the en-suite shower and bathroom. She hoped the shower would cool her heated blood down, and she shivered slightly as she stripped off her clothes and stepped under the water, which was still a bit too cold for her.

The past few hours had driven her almost mad with attraction, and she wondered idly if Gray had noticed and was just ignoring it for the sake of professionalism, or the worse option being that he just didn't have an interest and was hoping she would give up on him.

Lucy had already talked to her about Gray and Juvia and how Juvia had ended up giving up on him for someone that already cared, which happened to be Lyon. Lucy doubted that Gray just simply didn't like Juvia, because he did consider her a friend, but she mused that maybe he was just put off by how forward the water mage was. Shio hoped that she wasn't being forward, but she supposed that she wasn't exactly stalking him, or calling him 'Gray-sama'.

She felt a little sorry for Juvia though, since she was such a beautiful and kind woman. It seemed that all the Fairy Tail women were really pretty with amazing 'features' if they could be called as such. There was Mirajane, whose looks spoke for themselves. Erza's beautiful long hair and figure made men desire her, and women desire to look like her. Not to mention Cana, Lucy, and Evergreen. That was just a start.

When she looked around at all the women, she felt very inconspicuous though Loke's visits had become more and more frequent since all he wanted to do was 'lay her down by a fireplace' and proceed to do something else that she didn't hear since Lucy had pushed him over and told her to run before the Zodiac spirit kidnapped her.

She sat with her arms wrapped her around her legs and her chin on her knees, while she sat underneath the cascading water, contemplating her fate. Would she her heart give out since it barely seemed to slow down in Gray's presence? Or would she make a fool of herself and blab about her crush to him?

"Oi." Gray's voice echoed through the tiled bathroom and made Shio jump up so quickly that she hit her head quite hard on the tap on the way up. "Sorry, I just wanted to see if you had fallen asleep in here or something. I just wanted to shower before I fell asleep myself."

"I haven't been in here that long, have I?"

"About 40 minutes."

"Oh...s-sorry. I didn't realise. I'll be out in a minute."

With a deep breath, she got up and turned off the tap, and dried herself before wrapping herself up in her towel and grabbing her clothes and heading out so Gray could go straight in. He shut the door behind him, and other than the sound of the water, Shio was in silence. With a sigh, she changed into her clothes, and sat down at the small table in the corner of the room, looking out the window.

She rubbed her head, and groaned when it stung a bit, and she could feel a bump forming. Why did she have to be so jumpy around Gray?! He only had to look at her and she would become a pile of goo on the floor. It wasn't that he was just that attractive. Well, he certainly is that attractive, but it was more than that.

It was the times when she couldn't move due to the amount of dark magic in her body, and because of her terrible wounds, and she would see him sitting on the tree outside the window, looking at her occasionally, making sure she hadn't died in the last few minutes.

It was the way he spoke to her. How he didn't just constantly tip-toe with his words to avoid upsetting her. Sometimes he never spoke at her because he didn't need to. He was just able to express himself in the right way.

It was the ability he had to be both care-free and serious when he needed to. Some people were either one or the other, so to find that Gray could tell when a serious attitude was needed and to be able to have fun and silly sometimes was awesome.

It was the love he held for his friends. Fairy Tail was important to everyone in the guild, but Gray's pride in everyone and the care he had for the guild was amazing. He got worried about people, he got angry when guild members did reckless things, and he got scared when his friends were in danger.

And it was all the rest. He understood honour, and respect. He was considerate to all, and helpful, not just to her, but to everyone. He was brave and courageous, but not in a reckless way. Well, maybe a little reckless sometimes, but he had come out the other end still kicking every time. It was also the mystery that got her. He never talked about himself much, like where he was from, his family etc.

She sighed again when the thoughts started making less sense because she was tired, and with a small yawn, she fell asleep.

In the meantime, Gray was standing up in the shower, one hand on the wall in front of him as the multitude of water droplets kept landing on his head. He figured that Shio was in here thinking about things, and he seemed to be doing the same.

It was odd travelling with her. Not bad, just different. He supposed that he was just so used to travelling with Natsu, Happy, Lucy, Wendy and Erza that he didn't really think about going on missions with anyone else. Their team worked well, and it was just feeling a bit funny with them not around.

He was enjoying it though. Natsu wasn't around to fight with him, Lucy wasn't here to be all mushy with Natsu, Wendy to be shy, Happy to flirt with Charle all the time, and Erza wasn't here to scare the shit out of him. Shio didn't do any of those things. She was quiet, even though that was because she was shy, and he had a hunch she was shy for a different reason. Every now and then he would see her blush, or smile in a funny way.

Though things with Juvia were very different, since she was much more forward about it, he was starting to think that maybe the guys were right. Maybe Shio was crushing on him. But the thing was, was that he was beginning to get the idea that maybe he was returning her feelings.

She was so sweet, and genuinely kind. She gave respect to everyone she met, and always tried to act in a fair and honourable manner but firm when necessary. When she spoke to him, she wasn't just speaking to him because she thought he was 'cute' or 'hot' like most of the girls in Magnolia did, simply because of his reputation. She was talking to him as a person, not a piece of meat. It amazed him how she could be so self-sacrificing as well.

Over the past few weeks, she had been trying to help Wendy out with whatever she could, to pay her back for healing her for so long. She had tried to do the same for Porlysucia but the older lady chased her away, saying that it wasn't necessary and that her being out of her house was payment enough.

It wasn't that she was trying to suck up to anyone either. She spoke to everyone the same, whether it was a strong, s-class member of Fairy Tail, or someone who wasn't well known at all. She respectfully spoke to everyone as if they were on the same level. Gray believed that it was because she came from a society where there wasn't anyone who was higher up than anyone else, aside maybe a town leader.

Also, her looks were something of note, to say the least. She had overheard Shio talking with Mirajane about how outshone she felt by all the other women in the guild. Though everyone seemed to look at her and find her attractive anyway. It was odd to find someone who was such an exotic beauty as well.

Her hair came down to her shoulderblades and was a deep purple colour, that looked almost black. Her eyes shone a bright gold colour, that got darker when she was tired or upset. She still looked a little thin from loosing so much weight while she was bedridden, but her high-set cheekbones made her look a little bit gaunt in an odd light anyway. She was a thin girl to begin with, but she was slowly building up more lean muscle, and was getting stronger and gaining more stamina every day. Shio certainly knew how to work hard. That was something Gray could really appreciate.

He was definitely tired from the travelling though, and he started to feel himself become more and more drowsy. After he dried himself and got into some clean clothes to sleep in, he came out of the bathroom to find Shio fast asleep in the wooden chair looking like she had been staring out the window.

The man smiled at how peaceful she looked and lifted back the covers on the bed before gently picking her up, bridal style, and placing her down then pulling the covers over her. He hopped in on the other side and yawned before rolling to face toward Shio and slowly lose himself to sleep.

* * *

Morning came and Gray awoke early to find Shio curled up next to him. He didn't dare move, lest he wake her. Instead, since it was still fairly dark outside, he went back to sleep, listening to Shio's even breathing.

Later on, Shio woke up and nearly crapped herself when she found that she had moved towards Gray during the night. She hoped he was asleep the whole time and wouldn't know since she would be mortified if he found out.

"Morning." Gray's voice sounded out tiredly from next to her as soon as she tried to move away from him so she could get out of bed.

Her response was a yelp and to jump so much that she nearly fell out of the bed backwards, but Gray grabbed a hold of her arm just in time. She stared at him blankly for a moment, then righted herself and quickly apologised before running off to the bathroom, shutting the door behind her.

Gray chuckled lightly and shook his head at her as she dashed off, guessing that she was quite embarrassed. Honestly, he found that he had rather enjoyed her closeness. It had helped him get back to sleep earlier, and it wasn't a lust based thing either. It was comfort. It was nice to know that there was someone by your side.

The madoushi knew that Shio had still been having nightmares of the day her village had been attacked and he was hoping that she hadn't woken up terrified and then moved closer to him to feel like she was safe. The young woman came out a few minutes later, and seemed to have calmed herself down and tidied up. He went in after her and Shio began to get changed while he was out of the room.

Akashio found a slightly tatttered shirt that was very comfortable for travelling in, and pants that had plenty of pockets so she could easily access anything that she would need. Since she wasn't well versed with her magic, she had been carrying two daggers around just in case she needed to defend herself against anyone or anything. Luckily she had not needed them...yet.

After Gray came out, he got dressed as well and they were ready to go after they packed up their things. They stopped at a small cafe for breakfast and ate a hearty meal so that they wouldn't have to stop for a while. The next city was a few hours away and they still had a lot of travelling left to do.

Soon enough, they were only a few hours from Shio's old village. As they got closer to her village, she started to withdraw into herself. Gray noticed this and left it be. There wasn't much point in trying to make her feel better or ask her what was wrong since this wouldn't be over for a while yet and he hoped that closure would be something that she got out of this as well as some more answers about her magical ability.

He also had to admit that he was curious as to what sort of power she may possess. Most ancient or older magics that didn't exist any more or were too rare to find were hard to find information for a reason. Most of them were incredibly dangerous to targets and some to the users as well. It seemed that this magic was outlawed because of the risk of damage to the user considering the state that Shio had been found in and also because it wasn't the dark guilds doing, but the force of her magical power exploding from her body.

It was good that she survived though. It definitely said a lot about her will to live. They finally reached a large hill where Shio noticed charring marks on the ground, where the grass had been burnt to black. She stopped and looked down and Gray stopped a few steps ahead of her.

Since he was a bit taller, he could already see what was on the other side of the hill. As his head turned back towards Shio, she could see the look on his face meant that she would not like what she was going to see. She had hoped that the village would have at least been cleaned up, bodies buried and that she wouldn't see things that held so much sentimental value for people strewn on the streets.

Her eyes closed and she took a deep breath before taking a small step dorwards, feeling like her brain was subconsciously fighting her feet to stop them from moving forward. Her arm stretched out as she imagined a rope, so she could pull herself forward with it, trying to resist and defeat her fears.

Just as she was about to grab onto the imaginary rope, her eyes snapped open to see that Gray had taken a hold of her outstretched hand. He did not smile, or say anything to her for comfort or support. His eyes were hard and his mouth turned downward in the corners. She knew that this would be a difficult time, but she was happy that he was here.

So she took a step forward.

And another.

And another.

The last step she took revealed what was left of her village. There was no bodies sprawled in the street, but there was burn marks from fire, things that people had used as weapons against the attacking mages, such as sticks and a few kitchen utensils like knives. Nothing but the remains of houses that used to be homes filled with life.

She continued forward and Gray kept a tight hold of her hand and walked beside her. Her grip was strong and her brow tightly knit, and even though her eyes were blank and showed no emotion in their depths, he could see her body shaking slightly and feel the blood running through her hand. He could swear that he was able to hear her heart hammering in her chest.

It was a sad scene, knowing that people had called this place home before it had been destroyed. He could see that the home most intact was over the opposite side of the village and was almost naturally hidden from being build in a small space within the small mountain that loomed over the village, casting hideous shadows on the ground. He only saw it for a moment before it was hidden again and he began to lead Shio in the direction of the house.

Shio did not protest and simply followed him, still grasping his hand, her grip strengthened by her intense emotion. They found the house was still in ruins, even though it was in better shape compared to the other ones. They stepped inside to see if there was anything left seeing as there was no longer a door.

Most of the valuables would be gone, but there was books on the shelf that looked older than the previous village leader that lived in the house before it was destroyed. She let go of Gray's hand and picked up one book and opened it to see what it was about since the writing on the binder had faded too much for it to be read. She hoped that they may have some information that might help her figure out her power. As the book opened she saw a glint of light the next thing she knew a large knife slid out from the book and landed on the floor, so it stuck out like a sore thumb against the burnt wooden surface.

Shio bent down and grabbed it by the handle and picked it up from the floor, then began to inspect the blade after drawing it from it's sheath. The design of it was old, like nothing Gray or Shio had seen before. The handle was wooden and had some odd symbols carved into it. The blade itself still looked as sharp as the day it was made and the metal had a menacing dark colour to it that made Gray a little nervous.

Gray took it from her to try and identify the symbols on the handle and Shio looked at the book again, seeing those same symbols on the pages that was open on as well as a small hole in the handle. She shut the book and put it in her pack and grabbed the other few and carefully put them in as an afterthought.

Behind the books, there was a tiny box hiding in the dark corner of the bookshelf. She pulled it out and wondered why it felt a little heavy. Gray spotted her with the box in her hand and he looked on curiously as she opened it to show a small jewel on a chain that had the same dark colour to its metal as the knife. The jewel itself was black as the ace of spades, but almost came to life once she touched it.

It turned to a pale gray colour and got brighter when she pulled it out completely. A tiny folded up piece of paper was inside the bottom of the box and Shio sat down on the floor to gather her thoughts before looking at it. Gray placed the knife down as he sat with her and the jewel on the chain stopped glowing and went black again as she put it down.

The small piece of paper had writing on it and Shio read it out aloud so Gray would hear as well.

_"To whomever finds this note,_

_I hope you are the one who can use the items to their fullest extent. The one who used to be called 'Kisan-Aralyn' or 'Summoner of the Unknown'. The jewel is a talisman to help you with your ability and to protect you from the effects of what your ability brings forth. If it glows when you touch it, then put it on as soon as possible._

_In the book that was in front of this box, there is a knife. It took me a long time to track it down, but I found it a few years ago when I made a secret trip up the mountain to the temple at it's peak. The knife and the jewel on the chain is made of a metal called 'Kisanium' that has not been found since the two items were created. The knife is a weapon against what you may summon and ordinary enemies and will become stronger and more deadly as you become more proficient with your talents._

_But please, travel to the temple as there is another piece of the puzzle left to be found._

_You must find the jewel that belongs in the hilt of the knife, but only the Kisan-Aralyn may retrieve it with a payment of blood._

_Do not succumb to the power._

_Control it and use it for good, or it will destroy you."_

Shio sat in silence looking at the talisman, the knife and the note. Neither her nor Gray said anything for a few minutes but Gray eventually moved first. He picked up the talisman, noting that it did not glow when his skin grazed against it, and put it on Shio. He draped it around her neck, watching it come to life and glow white this time, then did up the clasp at the back. He placed a hand on her shoulder and shifted next to her.

"Let's go."


	4. The Enigmatic Spirit

** Chapter 4 -The Enigmatic Spirit **

Before they left the village and begun to head up the mountain path, Shio took once last long look at what used to be her house. She really didn't want to go back and see it up close, to face all the memories that she had been haunted by for what seemed a hundred lifetimes. Stepping out of her front door, after hearing screams, to see people being chased down in the street, children running away with their parents trying to protect them. People getting killed in their homes, and those who were already dead. With a deep breath, she tore her eyes away, and followed Gray.

Shio knew that it would only take 2 or 3 hours to reach the top but she was scared about what she would find in the temple and what it would mean for her. Only the sounds of birds and the wind was in the air. Neither travelling companion spoke as they walked, climbed and jumped to reach the temple. Shio could see the overhang where the entrance was, but kept having to adjust the angle of their ascent since some parts of the path were so dilapadated that they were barely able to get through it. It was clear that no one had been using this path for a very long time, and she wondered the condition it was in when the previous village leader traversed through it to reach the temple.

As they reached the entrance, Gray helped Shio climb up since the only part of the rock that didn't crumble and fall apart under their hands was so high up that Gray had only just been able to pull himself up. He used his strength to help her up and they collapsed in exhaustion at the entrance, the overhang shielding them from the heat of the afternoon sun.

Since they had only stopped once after leaving Magnolia, their energy was in short supply, and there was still more to come. It would be dark in a few hours, and they had hoped to get to the temple, do what needed to be done and get back to the last town they had passed by before Shio's village and sleep the night before heading back to Magnolia, and to Fairy Tail.

Shio got up a minute later, leaving her pack where it was on the ground, taking only the note, the knife and the book it was in. She noticed the symbols carved into the rock at the entrance and headed inside, Gray trailing behind her, readying himself for a fight. It was dark inside, but light from the outside came in through a few holes in the rock, allowing just enough light for them to see properly.

There were symbols all over the walls, and Shio opened the book to find mostly all of the written in there just as they were on the walls of the temple. Gray looked around at everything and made sure that there wasn't anyone or anything hiding in the dark corners of the temple. It was eerily quiet and Shio scanned through the book to find out what she would have to do.

Glancing at the floor, she noticed that a drawing of a small circle with what seemed to be the symbol for 'Kisan-Aralyn' that kept popping up everywhere in the centre of the ring. She guessed that she was supposed to be seated in the middle of it and sat straight down. She felt like the knife had something to do with this, since it was shown below the drawing of the ring and as she pulled it out of the sheath with shaking hands, she felt it slightly cut the tip of her pointer finger.

A small bit of blood welled up and she stared at it blankly, watching the blood come out of the cut from her veins, and eventually drip onto the floor beneath her. Gray whirled around when a small amount of light appeared on the circle and watched as the talisman glowed and the knife along with it. A part of the rock on the floor just in front of Shio shifted to reveal a hole that had another jewel just like the talisman inside it. It was a perfect size to be placed in the hilt of the knife and Shio hesistated for a moment before picking up the jewel, seeing how it glowed and pushed it into the space in the handle. It fit perfectly.

The light faded and Shio turned to him with a bit of a confused expression. She felt her magic power swirl inside her and Gray could sense it increasing. But before he could ask what was happening, or think of what to do, silhouettes appeared around Shio. She screamed and Gray rushed for her, but in an instant, they were gone, almost like Shio had absorbed them.

All was silent for a moment.

"Are you okay?!" Gray asked softly.

"Yeah." Shio responded quietly, almost in a whisper. "But I feel...strong. It's weird. I know how to release my magical power now, but I feel like it I only use a little bit of energy, I will be able to exert more power. Like using my power will be easier." Shio explained and looked down at her hands, observing the dried blood on her finger and feeling the power in them.

She decided to see what would happen if she did release some magic. Her eyes closed and she took a deep breath before feeling her magical power create pressure in the air around her and feeling the stagnant atmosphere of the temple shift. The talisman around her neck glowed bright and Gray could feel how exponentially her power had grown in just a few minutes. It seemed like she was right in her analysis of what had changed. She didn't break a sweat even though she released a fair bit of magic.

He wondered what the consequences would be of having such a large increase of power so suddenly, though he was definitely impressed. Once Shio stopped her output completely, she heard something from the corner of the cave. Gray heard nothing but noticed her expression of alarm and prepared himself for a fight with the unknown.

Instinctively, Shio grabbed the kisanium blade, and turned towards the sound. She stared into the darkness and waited.

And waited.

Then it appeared. It was just a dark shape at first, but once it came out into the gradually fading light, she could see that it sort of looked like a dog or wolf shape. Except it was huge. She didn't dare turn away from it to see if there were others in the corners of the temple, lest it strike in that moment.

"Gray, can you see it?!"

"See what?!"

"Never mind. Use your ice make floor in front of me. Quick!" Shio's spoke quickly and with terror.

Gray didn't worry about why he was doing this, and swiftly formed the ice on the cave floor and Shio watched as the creature of darkness did not seem affected by it at all. She cursed, guessing that since only she could see it, only her attacks could destroy it. It leapt at her with long claws, and she ducked out of the way and used the blade to swipe at it in return. It spun out of the way and went to swing at her again and she wasn't quick enough to dodge it, so she used the blade to block the attack.

Sharp claws were still inches from her face and creatures size and muscle won and put scratches down her cheek but no more than that since Shio got a surge of power, probably resulting from her fight or flight response, and she resisted just enough to stop another strike with the knife. She jumped back and centred her weight before she did a push kick to send the dark being reeling backwards before she stepped to the side, just out of it's way and stabbed it in it's side. It howled high and long, and Gray was able to see the creature form fully so he could see the wolf-like creature before it disappeared again, becoming dust on the wind.

In shock, Shio panted and tried to catch her breath while Gray rushed over to her. "Are you alright?! What was that thing?!"

"I don't know, but I feel different again."

She closed her eyes and regain her composure then concetrated, releasing a small amount of magic into the air around her. The wolf creature appeared after a moment and Gray became ready to attack but watched carefully since it did not make a move to hurt either of them.

"Well done, Kisan-Aralyn. You have beaten me and gained the ability to summon me. My name is Faelan, the direwolf. At the cost of your energy, you may now summon me to assist you in battle. You will know how when the time comes..." the creature now known as Faelan disappeared and Shio's magical output stopped.

She looked to Gray in shock and breathed deeply. All of a sudden she felt very light headed and faint. Next thing, darkness clouded her vision, and she passed out.

Shio woke up a little while later, just as they were walking into the village that they had planned on staying in for the night. The lights roused her from her rest and she squinted for a moment before looking up at Gray, who stopped walking and put her down when she squirmed out of his hold in surprise. _He must have carried me the whole way here..._ Shio thought to herself and smiled in her mind.

"You okay?" he spoke quietly, but she could hear the concern in his voice loud and clear. It _may_ have made her heart skip a little bit.

"Mmm." was all she could manage at the moment, but she nodded enough for Gray to be satisfied.

They continued walking towards the inn, Gray almost hovering behind Shio, just in case she was to collapse again. He was terrified that she might have been wounded in her fight to tame the wolf demon. Immediately, he checked her over again, and looked for wounds or signs of trauma, but when he could find nothing, he guessed that she was probably more mentally drained rather than physically injured. He stayed behind her anyway.

While her feet did drag, and she walked slowly, nevertheless, she stayed upright and went straight towards the inn, which was so big that you could see it from the edge of the city. Even more so with the big, flashing sign over it. The sign flashed all the colours of the rainbow, and Shio stared at it blankly as it transitioned through the various different colours. Her neck craned further backward as they got closer to the inn, until she heard Gray's voice from next to her.

"Shio."

"Um, yeah?"

"Are you sure you are alright?" he asked with a furrowed brow, the scar that you could only just see underneath his hair twisted in an odd manner.

"Yeah, just spaced out. I'm still adjusting to how my power feels."

"You must not realise that you are releasing your magical power right now. That's probably why you are feeling funny. It making the air heavy."

The young woman stopped and switched on her spatial awareness to figure out that Gray was right. Without realising it, her magical power had been leaking out since she had woken up. It was more than likely because she was not used to having such a sheer amount, and was unconsciously getting rid of the extra power.

She strained a little to control if for a moment, but quickly got the idea of how to cease her output and stopped it completely. Both of them noticed straight away how much easier it was to breathe after she had stopped. Gray walked beside her and looked over to her just at the right moment, to see a cut form on her neck.

Shio winced and grasped at it, her hand getting blood on it in the process. Gray was surprised to see it just appear, but he knew that it was her ability causing it, not someone attacking them. He spared no second thought to tear his shirt off and rip off part of the material before he gently tied it around Shio's neck to slow the bleeding so they could at least get to the inn without her passing out again.

"Your body still needs to get used to your power. That's why your injuries were so severe when you were found by Mystogan. The force of your power exploding from within you was what did most of the damage to you. I'll patch you up properly when we get to the room at the inn."

They kept walking and only a minute later stepped inside the lobby of the inn. It was a huge place, with fancy artworks all over the walls and decorative pieces of furniture. A large, thick-browed man was behind the desk, but he was very pleasant to them and got them a nice room with two single beds and personally showed them the way to the stairs.

When they got in their room, Gray told Shio to put her stuff down and sit at the small table in the corner of the room. He got a few small first-aid items out from his pack and wet a handtowel from the bathroom to clean her wound with. Once he came back, he practically cupped her face with his cool hand, and used his thumb to turn her head away from him so he could see the cut.

Pained sounds escaped Shio's mouth while he gently dragged the damp cloth over her wound, and he muttered an apology, but did not stop his work. He placed some gauze over the top once it had stopped haemorraghing and then put a large, waterproof wound protector over the top which stuck down firmly.

He nodded when he was done, and Shio smiled shyly at him.

"Thank you...Gray-san."

"Just Gray is fine." he smiled back at her, and even though it was a bit of a lopsided smile, Shio still thought it was simply adorable.

"Okay. Thank you, Gray."

"No problem. Would you like a shower first so you can sleep sooner?"

"If you wouldn't mind." she nodded, and grabbed some clothes from her pack and showered. Quickly this time around, making sure to not start contemplating life while washing her hair.

The wound on her neck stung, and she knew it was from her magic output earlier. She hadn't even noticed how heavy the air had become until she had got herself under control.

It was hard for her to pick up on these things for the moment, since she was still not well-versed in magic use.

After she showered and put on clean clothes to sleep in, Gray showered mechanically being much too tired to really take notice of what he was doing. When he came out, Shio was sound asleep in bed, her face calm and serene. Her magic wasn't being released any more but he could still recall the feeling of the huge change in air pressure she could bring about with just a small amount of magic. He could already sense the great, sleeping strength within her and hoped that this was the start of her becoming a strong independent mage of Fairy Tail.

As he laid down to sleep, it was a most welcome feeling and he derifted off to sleep, dreaming of shapeless creatures made from shadow.

* * *

The next morning, Gray awoke at a fairly normal time. They still had a while before check out for their room, so he left Shio to sleep and went out to get them some breakfast from some sort of take away joint. He left a note just in case his female companion woke up before he returned and went on his way.

The city was slowly coming to life at this hour. Shops were opening and he could smell food on the wind already and just followed the smell to the next street over and attempted to decide on what to eat. Unfortunately he didn't really know what Shio's preferences were, so he got a few different things and took them back to the room. He also picked up the package that he needed to take back to Magnolia, which was another reason that he wanted to stay overnight in this village. Shio was still sound asleep and Gray was still feeling tired himself and almost felt like going back to sleep, but he gently shook her, knowing that by now, she would have to be hungry.

She groaned loudly, cranky at being roused from her sleep and swatted lazily at Gray's head when he leant over her to see if she had opened her eyes. He dodged easily and chuckled at the young woman, listening to her breathing as he unpacked some of the food so they could eat and be on their way.

Even though she didn't fall back asleep, she was still nowhere near as well rested as she could be. The exhausted and drained feeling still lingered in her mind and in her muscles from all the changes to her magic and power yesterday. They both ate silently together, Shio not knowing what to say as well as being too dmned tired to think of things to speak of, and Gray was just simply being quiet because he wasn't always the most talkative and extroverted person.

Gray checked them out after a while and they started the journey back to Magnolia and to Fairy Tail. There was a small forest that they had to head through while they were still a distance from the town. To make matters worse, upon exhaustion, and a lack of mental power and patience, it started raining as they made their way through the forest.

All of a sudden, Gray felt something odd. He looked over at Shio who was wide-eyed, and staring at something to her right, and she had dropped instinctively into a fighting stance. Gray prepared himself for a fight and watched the trees and the ground carefully fr signs of danger, whether it would be people or creatures.

Abruptly, a man appeared on one of the tree branches and looked scared as he rushed them, knife in his hand, faster than Gray had expected him too. Just as he was about ready to use his magic, the jet black wolf named Faelan flew past and grabbed him by the leg and took him to the ground with barely any effort. Gray looked at Shio to see that she was standing motionlessly, watching it occur but she was actually looking through the eyes of Faelan so that she could attack and defend accordingly.

Faelan stood on his chest, and he was so heavy that the man could not move and the creature growled low and loud, baring his teeth, his red eyes burning brightly with aggression. Shio went to storm over to the man, and Gray tried to stop her out of fear that the man may have magical ability, but she twsited her wrist out of his grip and kept going. Gray watched as Faelan got up and moved next to the man seamlessly as Shio approached him.

The mysterious attacker did not let the wolf out of his sight, still hearing his breathing and feeling his malicious presence. Gray's female companion placed her booted foot onto the man's chest so he would know to continue staying still.

"Why have you tried to attack us?!" She spoke in a low pitch, almost turning into a growl and when the man did not respond, Faelan did not make contact, but threateningly bit at the air next to his head. He yelped quietly in fear, and was clearly intimidated, and Shio could feel him begin to shake with terror underneath her foot.

"I haven't eaten in five days. I didn't plan on hurting you guys. I just hoped I could steal some food and run away. I have no money or anything to give you in return. I am so sorry!" the man began to break down and both Shio and Gray could see how thin and gaunt the man was, and they couldn't help but feel sorry for him.

"You could have just asked. We don't need anything in return if that's what you are worried about." Shio removed her foot and Faelan moved back to sit down, but neither of them dropped their guard. The man wouldn't be able to tell, but Gray could. The wolf's red eyes stayed on the stranger, making sure to keep an eye out for any possibly movement that may mean an attack was imminent.

Shio opened her pack and pulled out a few bits and pieces of food that they had leftover and handed them to the man, who thanked them and apologised continuously and told them about a dark guild attacking his village that was several days away from them. Gray couldn't contain his anger and hit a tree with the side of his tightly-clenched fist, and Shio asked the man many questions about the guild that attacked them. Mystogan had not destroyed the entire guild that had destroyed her village, and she had developed a lot of ideas about what she would like to do to the people in charge if given the chance. The three companions went on their way, heading back towards Magnolia as the man yelled at them that he would never forget their kindness.

Gray was a little confused and angered by all of the previous proceedings, but he knew that he was impressed by how quickly Shio had reacted. She had noticed that man before he had, and was ready to act before the ice mage had even figured out what was going on. He also noticed that Shio did not have any open wounds from summoning Faelan. She kept him with them, just in case anything else was to happen, and they all kept their eyes peeled and on the lookout for any signs of danger.

The ice mage was still a little bit cranky that Shio had been the first one to react, but mostly because she had approached the man. She would have to become more cautious in a world with magic. People had some weird and wonderful powers and it was dangerous and reckless to do something like that without knowing the extent of someone's power. He did understand that if she hadn't noticed, things may have ended badly for them though.

"Shio." he spoke out aloud before he realised it. "Please, don't do that again."

"Do what again?" She stopped walking and looked directly at him with her head tilted to one side, and had an eyebrow raised in question.

"Approach an enemy so easily. If he had a type of magic that required bodily contact for it to work, you may have been in real trouble..." he looked straight into her eyes, and exhaled deeply before he continued. "It scared me." he trailed off quietly, and looked down to stare at his feet with his hands in his pockets.

"I'm sorry if I worried you, but I felt no magical ability from that man. That's why I wasn't afraid." Shio spoke casually, but she was really quite flattered.

"What do you mean by 'felt no magical ability'?"

"Well, I can feel an...aura of magical power from you. But I can't feel it from normal people. I couldn't feel anything from the hotel receptionist, or that man before. It's like a life force almost, but I can't feel it from civilians, only mages. I've really only just figured out today why you have a different 'feel' to you." she stared straight into his dark eyes as she spoke, and she smiled a little when he couldn't think of anything to say.

"You get that from me." the creature in their group spoke up so that both of them could hear it, not just mentally via the bond between him and Shio. "It's part of your ability. Once we become completely synchronised as partners, we ca actually combine our bodies and fight as one. Then you can have all the sensory advantages that I do, such as hearing, smell and increased speed and strength."

"I didn't know that we could do that."

"Of course you didn't. That's what I am here for." The large wolf grumbled but rubbed his head against Shio's hand. It seemed that he was starting to like her. "It will take a lot of practice before we are able to do that though."

"We have so much to tell the Master. I can't wait to get back. I also can't wait until I'm in my own bed. I'm still exhausted." Shio looked at Gray with a tired smile. He could see how drained she was considering how dull the colour of her eyes were. He smiled back at her anyway.

"Then let's keep moving."

* * *

Once they entered the city, they made their way straight to the guild to report in. Shio's head began to hurt a little after getting a small taste of the strength emanating from the guild on one side of the city. They made their way up there and went in through the double doors. Everyone greeted them on the way in, but seemed a little confused at the sight of the huge, black direwolf walking along Shio.

The Master was sitting on the bar, drink in hand as per the usual. He spotted them and smiled, glad to see that everything was okay and that they had returned safely.

"Master." Shio greeted him and bowed her head in respect a little, which made him chuckle lightly.

"No need for that, dearest. We are all family here. Tell me, who is the new addition?" Makarov indicated towards the direwolf next to her, sitting and staring into space casually. She nudged him gently to get his attention andhe snapped out of his reverie and gave her a funny look.

"This is Faelan, the direwolf. It seems that he is my summoning creature. There is so much that I have found out, but so much that I still don't know. But I can feel the strength of magical power that I have now gained. It's...it's a little frightening."

"Tell me everything." The Master hopped down from the bar and the two and four-legged beings followed him and sat down in a 'quieter' corner of the guild hall.

"Well, we made our way to my old village. It was...decimated. There was nothing left." she exhaled shakily, and Gray placed his hand on her's that sat on her lap underneath the table. She looked up at him and he nodded for her to keep going. It gave her the courage to continue. "We went to the home of the previous village leader, and found this book. I was hoping Levy would be able to read it as I don't know how." Shio pulled out the book, the knife and the handwritten note and revealed the necklace underneath her jacket.

"We found the knife and this note as well, and it told us a little bit more about myself. Apparently I am 'Kisan-Aralyn' or something. I still don't really know what that means just yet."

"If I may fill you in a little, I can tell you what I know." Faelan spoke up, and though he was quiet, for a wolf he was certainly able to command the attention of all three of them quickly.

"You are now bonded to me, as I am to you. We are one and the same. I have my own thoughts, morals personality, and it's the same for you. We can fight, or work as one. We must earn each other's respect, and that's how we learn to work as a team. Currently, you are able to summon me without much effort. You have already instinctively expanded on how we work together. In the forest, you looked through my eyes to see the man and used that to act accordingly. When you get used to that, you can use my senses and I can use yours."

"You mean you didn't let me look through your eyes then?" Shio asked, being under the impression that what had happened was controlled by Faelan, not herself.

"No, you did that. You just didn't realise it consciously because of our bond. You will be able to train yourself to tune into my hearing, my sense of smell and my sight whenever you need to. Anyway, the second stage of working together means that you are able to use a partial transformation to gain extra strength and speed. You will get sharp claws and teeth, extra musculature and agility. That takes a lot of time to do, but considering how quickly you are already instinctively developing skill, I would say that we can work on it very soon."

"And the final ability? Do you know anything about it?" Master spoke up, recalling that the book said that there was an unknown third skill.

"I do. I am sure that you have all heard of the old legends of the supernatural creatures that wander the country side, destroying all in their path." The wolf waited for a response from the mages, which was a small nod from all three of them. "Those stories originated from the Kisan-Aralyn who was able to use the third skill. There has been no one else to use it before them, or since, because it combines the bodies of the summoner and the creature. I believe that the creature and summoner ended up fighting each other to the death because they disagreed over how to use their power. I don't know much else than that. I really only began my existence when your magical power awoke."

"Do you think we will be able to develop the bond to do that?" Shio asked, doubting herself considering that only one other person was able to do it previously.

"That I cannot be sure of. We may be able to one day, or we may not. It depends on the strength we build together. But you need to know one very important thing..." Faelan looked like he was almost frowning, and his tone became deadly serious. "You have probably noticed how you don't bleed when you get wounded from using your magical power."

Shio was hoping that the wolf would be able to tell her about this. The way he spoke already gave her an idea of what she would be in for.

"I use your blood as payment for the power I give you. Your blood allows you to live. You can live without arms, or legs. But blood is everything. It fights sickness, and keeps your body working properly. If you are drained of power, you must regenerate the supply of blood so that I can keep providing you with strength. Previously, this would mean that the Kisan-Aralyn would have to use the blood of others to sustain their power, and I daresay that you will not be any different."

"So how did you awaken the ability to summon Faelan, Shio?" the Master asked, trying to ignore the gravity of the previous statement and distract Shio from it too. Her expression was dead-panned for another moment after he finished speaking until Gray nudged her and she continued on with her recollection of the previous days happenings.

"After we left the house where we found the knife, we made our way up the mountain and to this small cave, that is nearly at the top. This same symbol was carved into the rock at the entrance. I am guessing it means Kisan-Aralyn, because it keeps appearing everywhere." She pointed out the strange symbol on the front of the book that they had found.

Master nodded and made small sounds of acknowledgement as she went through the memories that she had, Gray filled in on the parts that she was unconscious for, while Faelan made various inputs here and there. He was big enough to sit on the floor next to the table and be at the same height as the Master. If it wasn't such a serious moment of discussion, Shio would have laughed.

The wizard saint looked deep in thought for the duration of the story and occasionally glanced at the large furry creature sitting next to Shio. Eventually Shio began to get more and more drowsy and Faelan suggested that they go and get some rest. While it didn't take very much effort or magic for him to be summoned, Shio was already exhausted from the last few days, and Shio had planned to keep him with her constantly so that they could get to know each other and work better together. Also, because he was pretty awesome. She had always wanted a dog, but now she had a direwolf instead. One that talked and fought with her.

The Fairly Tail Master asked that Shio leave behind the book, the knife and the necklace and the note for Levy to look at, but Faelan explained that she could not remove the necklace because it was protecting her from the negative side to her ability, loosing blood consistently and getting random wounds here and there. It also helped to lessen the consumption of power required for him to be around, so the Master just asked for her to return to the guild when she was well rested.

Shio thanked him, and waved to Mira on her way out, intending to head home to shower and go straight to bed, even though it was only early in the afternoon. Gray walked with her to make sure she got back to Fairy Hills okay, even though she reminded him that Faelan was with her and that she would be alright, though she was flattered and appreciated the gesture anyway.

The raven haired man looked like he was about to drop dead with exhausting as well, and Shio shyly suggested that he could crash at her place so he didn't have to walk all the way back to his place on the other side of town. The young woman went to unlock the door, and had to remember how the contraption worked since she was just so out of it, and after a minute the door swung open and Gray stared into space and reluctantly agreed to stay, hoping he wasn't being a burden, but he was so damn tired that and doubted she really minded anyway.

She was kind enough to let him shower first, and she waited patiently whilst sitting on the floor next to her bed, where Faelan was laying down dozing lightly. Gray didn't take too long and he thanked her and sat down on her bed for a minute while he put a shirt on, and in the mean time Shio tried not to blatantly stare at the half-naked man on her bed, and scampered into the bathroom to have a quick shower herself. She didn't dare take very long in case she fell asleep standing up, only to fall over and split her head open on the tiled floor.

When she came out, she found her human companion laying flat on his back with his legs dangling off the edge of the bed, sound asleep. It seemed that he was more worn out that either of them realised until presented the opportunity to go to sleep. Luckily, she managed to rouse him just enough to get him to move and get under the covers so that he wouldn't be freezing during the night and he could sleep comfortably. She laid down next to him and gave Faelan a quick scratch behind he ears before joining her two nakama in sleep...


	5. S-Class

**Chapter 5 – S-Class**

The next morning Shio awoke and immediately became angry at her bodily functions. It was getting light outside slowly, and she quickly made her way to the toilet, being careful to avoid the black ball of fur next to her side of the bed, did her business and got back into bed straight away. Her feet got cold again in that small amount of time, and she curled up into a ball and tried to warm up as best she could.

After she got warm again, she rolled over and got comfortable and opened her eyes for a moment to look at Gray and tried not to yelp. She forgot he was there. Even in sleep, his brow was slightly furrowed, like he had too much on his mind at any one time. She allowed herself to brush a bit of hair off his face, but her hand went back underneath the covers quickly when he shifted a little closer to her. Though he was quite carefree most times, he was a smart man and always dealt with problems in a very serious manner, which he seemed to be able to switch to when needed.

Especially when it came to arguing with Natsu, she smiled in amusement. She felt more confident around him, and he made her feel safe. His presence was quite calming, which helped since she still felt quite stressed and nervous about the future, learning about her true self and her power. She was glad that he had offered to come along with her. He had been so supportive, even without saying a word, and she was truly grateful for it.

One day, she hoped to pay him back for his help, though she had no idea how. But maybe she could just pay him some money equivalent to what a mission like that would cost from someone outside the guild. The idea that maybe she could pay him back in ...other ways had crossed her mind. She felt a flutter in her stomach when he looked at her and when he would give her an almost roguish lopsided smile, she could swear her heart almost stopped.

She sighed in audibly and moved to make herself comfortable. Her eyes shut of their own accord and she felt back into a deep sleep, while Gray's eyes opened as he heard her breathing even out. He had felt her fingers gently brush hair from his face a minute ago, and it had roused him enough after feeling her warmth leave the bed earlier as she had gone to the toilet. It didn't worry him, but he found that his breath caught in his throat at the memory of her soft touch.

Over the past few days, she had been through so much, and he felt like she hadn't really had a chance to reflect on what she had seen, and the power she had acquired. Without knowing why, he felt like he wanted to be there for her as she got used to a different life. He felt like he understood her pain. The guild would support her, and Master would help her understand her power, and maybe even help her train to control it properly, but she would need friends to talk to, so she wouldn't feel like she was going at it alone.

The only thing that would take him away from Magnolia was a mission tomorrow with Natsu, Happy, Erza and Lucy. It was a fairly easy escort mission, but they were all going since there was a few reports of a group of bandits robbing carts for valuables and money in the area and they needed to be prepared. The pay was high as well, even split between them, so it was a good chance to make some money without worrying too much about coming across some seriously powerful opponents. After a few minutes, sleep took him again up until the sun was much higher in the sky.

Faelan woke Shio and she got up to get him some water and Gray woke up when she got out of bed. He felt a little bit awkward when he realised that he was in her bed but she obviously didn't seem to mind since she had slept next to him. It felt nice having someone there through the night, even though it wasn't out of necessity, like sharing a bed a few days prior. He got up and stretched while he made his way out into the kitchen/living room area and watched Shio reach up and grab two bowls out from the cupboard. The shirt she was wearing moved up as her arms reached up, showing off some upper thigh that caught his attention for the moment it was revealed.

"Cereal?" Her voice grabbed his attention and he looked up to find her smiling at him.

He yawned and nodded in response to her question. She poured out two bowls and set them on the table and they both sat down to eat in silence. Faelan said that he was going to return to his world briefly but to summon him in around two hours. They bid him goodbye and watched his form turn transparent and then disappear completely. It was quite strange to watch.

Once they had eaten Gray thanked her for her hospitality and said he would go back to his home to get a change of clothes and hang out for a while before making his way to the guild hall. Shio awkwardly thanked him, still being quite shy around him, when he was awake at least. He smiled at her as he shut the door behind him and headed home. She sighed, feeling very aware of the sudden emptiness in her apartment.

Faelan wasn't here and Gray had just left so it was quiet and felt bigger than normal. It had been a while since she was alone for more than an hour or two since she was spending all her time at the guild hall lately. After a while, she headed out to get to know the area a little better and to find some places to get good fresh food, a library for books, and a shop for any necessary household and personal items she would require.

Mostly everything she needed had already been in her room and guild members kept dropping groceries off to her, but there was a few food and personal items she needed now that she had begged them to stop. There was always too much food for her to get through by herself, and it would pile up at her front door. She picked up few things and took them back to her apartment, which was a bit of a trek from the market place.

It had been around two hours and she unpacked before she summoned Faelan. It took her a moment to remember how to do it and he appeared before her straight away. She gave him a scratch behind the ears and they discussed some training regimes for her and suggested that they go talk to a few of the guild members. They left Fairy Hills and made their way to the massive hall that had a lot of noise coming from it, as per usual.

Shio saw Erza and Lucy were sitting at one end of the table, Ezra looking like she was ready to commit murder and Lucy had a very exasperated look on her face. The reason for this was Natsu and Gray growling at each other as they leant over the table and pushed their foreheads against one another. She smiled and huffed lightly before going up to speak to Master.

The wizard saint told her that Levy was still studying at the items she had handed her to inspect and that they would be returned as soon as possible. Then Faelan, Shio and Makarov discussed some training that would be good for their teamwork and also suggest that they talk to some of the teams within Fairy Tail to ask them how they began to train so that they could know each other so well that they wouldn't have to talk or tell each other what to do.

Mostly, they would just look at each other and know what the other person was thinking. He also suggested that Lucy would be good to talk to as she had so many different spirits to create bonds with, many of them with... _interesting_ personalities. Faelan trotted over to talk to Happy, leaving her standing by herself. She was very nervous about doing this, but before she could approach anyone, someone's hand was on the small of her back. Her hair fanned out and fell over one shoulder as she quickly turned her head to see whose hand was upon her.

The hand belonged to Gray and he stared straight into her eyes as his hand lingered for a moment before he pulled it back to place in his pocket.

"I, uh, just wanted to tell you that I'll be going on a mission tomorrow with my group. We should only be about 4 days since it's about little bit more than a days travel there, but we will be escorting someone back to Magnolia so the return trip will take a bit longer. I'm going to pack now so I probably won't see you before I go." he cleared his throat while he waited for her to respond.

"Oh, um, thank you for telling me. You've been really helpful, but I don't want to count on you too much and pester you by hanging around all the time so don't feel obliged to tell me these things. You have your own life." She chuckled to try and make light of her comment but Gray just knitted his brow together.

"Don't feel that way. You shouldn't be going through all this alone. It's a lot to take in and I...I feel like I understand your burden." He took a deep breath before he continued. "I have lost people before, so I can at least understand how you feel, even a little. We can't always do everything on our own." He gave her a supportive smile that felt like it warmed her body, but gave her insides that tell tale flutter.

Without realising it until her vision blurred, her eyes welled up with tears and she looked at the floor to hide it. However Gray noticed too quickly and said a quiet 'Hey' to get her attention. She lifted her head and made eye contact with flushed cheeks, embarrassed that she had gotten a bit emotional. Her cheeks only got redder, as well the rest of her face and her ears when Gray gently brushed some hair off her face with the back of his hand.

His fingers barely ghosted over her skin and she tried not to sigh as he touched her. It was a small, comforting gesture but one that made her feel truly happy to know that she was safe and cared for in this guild amongst her new family. She felt the urge to wrap her arms around him, but pushed the urge away as he told her it would be okay, then waved and turned back to his group, then left to pack. She was sad to see him go, even if it was just for a few days, but knew that it would happen eventually.

Maybe she could use this time to travel to some surrounding cities. She asked Mirajane about a few good things to see in the neighbouring villages and made some notes on directions and sights to see. Shio thanked the blue eyed woman who she was certain could never possibly get angry and made her way over to Lucy and Erza who were sitting at the table talking amongst themselves.

Natsu and Happy had taken to running around with Faelan, who seemed to be enjoying himself, though some people in the guild had not seem him yet and were a bit confused at the monstrous black wolf's presence. She greeted them in her usual quiet voice and they smiled at her and Lucy shuffled over and offered for her to sit down. She nodded her thanks as she sat down and tried to join in on their conversation which wasn't too difficult as they were talking about their favourite kinds of cake. It was pretty funny seeing the amazing strong Erza smile so happily as she talked about something so simple.

After a while of varying points of surprisingly feminine conversation, Erza's expression turned serious and Shio was confused and couldn't keep up.

"Lucy. Have you told him yet?" Erzas eyes followed something moving behind Shio and she subtlety turned her head so she could follow her gaze. She found that she was looking at the pink haired man, who was still running around with Happy and Faelan. Lucy's face was as scarlet as Erza's hair, and she sunk down in her seat, which Erza took as a 'no'.

"Why haven't you told him? You know he's so thick that you need to spell it out for him. Literally." She lectured in a sisterly sort of way.

"It's really embarrassing. I don't know how to tell him or how he will react to it. I don't want to mess up our friendship. I'd prefer to not tell him at all rather than risk it." Lucy stared at her hands which she clenched and unclenched.

"What could possibly mess up your friendship?" Shio piped up, since she had no idea what was going on or how there was any way that the seemingly in breakable bond between Lucy and Natsu could be endangered. Lucy stared at her, and her cheeks flushed red again before she spoke.

"I...think I have a crush on Natsu. I THINK. I don't really know how it feels so I'm not sure."

"I don't see how anything could possibly break the bonds of your friendship. You guys seem really close." Shio smiled warmly, because she had seen how good friends they were and she didn't really think that a crush could damage it.

"Thank you Shio. You seem to be quite perceptive. I agree with you. Even though Natsu would be...difficult, I think you guys would make a great couple and-" Erza stopped abruptly and Shio almost jumped six feet in the air when she heard a voice next to her head.

"Who would make a great couple? Is Shio dating Loke?" The voice belonged to Natsu who was leaning over the back of the seat with a cheeky grin on his face. Shio rolled her eyes and shook her head in response, recalling the celestial spirits frequent propositions. "Natsu. You should know better than to interrupt me. Shoo." Erza used her harsh tone to scare him away, but she chuckled as he slumped away with Happy fluttering next to him, Faelan in tow.

"You have to tell him Lucy. I think he deserves to know. He might actually grow up a bit if you tell him." She shrugged and Lucy just sunk down further in her chair and groaned.

"You should tell him. I think you guys would be great together. Besides, I'd be surprised if Natsu didn't have feelings for you. He seems to care about you a lot. He might not even realise the depth of his feelings until you tell him yours."

Shio spoke with some wisdom that she managed to conjure up from nowhere. "You guys are probably right. I'll think about it tonight. I might tell him when we get back." Lucy's jaw dropped and the same time as Erza's and they looked at each other for a moment before speaking in unison.

"We need to pack!" They both said Shio a quick goodbye and they went over to the three boys still running around. They dragged Natsu and Happy out with him and Faelan said goodbye and made his way back to her. When he walked back over to her, she got up and they headed over to the bar quickly so she could say bye to Mira. Shio told her that she planned to go to a nearby city in a couple of days for some sight seeing and that she should be back before dark.

Mira said that she hoped that she has fun and to come to the guild the next day so she knew she got back okay. Shio said her goodbyes and Faelan walked beside her as they made their way back to Fairy Hills. She could hear a commotion from upstairs which she presumed was Erza packing everything she owned to take on their 4 day trip. The rest of the afternoon was spent tidying up the house and then lazing about before making a quick dinner and heading to bed.

For most of the day after, she did some fitness training. She jogged around Magnolia with Faelan, whose huge size and appearance definitely frightened a few villagers though he did get a pat from a little girl who liked the 'big puppy dog'. He was very easily swayed when someone gave him a scratch behind the ears. It took her quite a while to do a decent lap, then she went to the guild to grab some lunch after having a shower.

Mira offered for her to help out behind the bar regularly when she had the chance, just while she trained so she could make some money until she started doing some jobs with decent pay. She also suggested they could do some hand-to-hand combat training in their breaks. Shio thanked her and was really excited at the opportunity and offered to start as soon as she could.

It would be good for her to have something to do aside from train on her own and just hang out with Faelan and the other guild members. As much as she had come to love Magnolia, she still felt a bit out of sorts and a bit useless. But she was trying to adjust to her new life here, which she was eternally grateful for. Fairy Tail had just taken her in without any questions and let her become a part of the family. It was amazing to feel like she belonged here after such a short time.

Though she still mourned for her lost family and friends, and still visited the garden regularly and tended to the flowers, she felt like that chapter of her life was over. She wanted to honour her family by living on and trying to be happy, no matter how long it took.

She felt like a contributing member of society at Fairy Tail, and since she was going to be training and getting stronger, she hoped that one day she would able to stop senseless violence like the murder of her village members.

As it slowly got darker, Shio began packing a small bag for her day trip tomorrow, and started to get excited. In the town she was visiting, there was a small zoo, and a few really nice statues she wanted to see. Her mother had been a sculptor, so she had grown up to have an appreciation for how much effort goes into the art works. Though, she did feel a sense of melancholy at the memory of her mother sculpting beautiful horses, and dragons, while she watched intently as a child, it felt nice in a way to make sure that she remembered her family this way. In a positive way.

Faelan watched her silently, as she slowly put a small pack together, with a couple bottles of water, and a small plastic container that she could use as a bowl for him to drink out of. When she was finished, she came and sat next to him on the couch that just barely fit the two of them because he was so huge.

"Shall we take a short time to practice the use of our skills?" he suggested casually, and sat up to face her, as Shio faced him.

"Now, match your breathing to mine. Slow, and deep." Faelan shut his eyes and his chest puffed out and sunk in time with his breathing. "In your mind, try and focus on the consciousness that you don't recognise as your own. Feel your mind connect with that little orb, and melt into it, gently." They both breathed in sync. "Once we join, it will feel quite strange."

In Shio's mind, she imagined a small, furry orb of black energy that she felt was Faelan's consciousness. Her own was a dark purple orb, and she breathed in and melded her orb with Faelan's. For a few seconds she felt…warm. Then it hit her. Her eyes snapped open straight away, her pupils fully dilated and the hairs on the back of her neck stood up. Her entire body buzzed with adrenaline, and she felt…alive. More alive than she ever had in her life. She felt aware of every little thing around her.

She could hear the voice of the lady that served at the café she liked over the road, and smell the cakes and pies they sold. She could see the bird, flying far off in the sky. She felt like she would be fast if she tried to run, and strong enough to move the lounge she sat on with no trouble. She looked at Faelan, but all of a sudden, she was looking at herself through his eyes. She looked very strange, with thicker hair, and her eyes were dark red, like Faelan's. Her hand reached up to touch her hair, and she saw it happen.

It was incredibly odd, and so different from just looking in a mirror. It held so much more depth and was so vibrant. She smiled and they both began to laugh softly at the strange sensation. There was so many things she could see, smell and hear now that she couldn't on her own.

"Let's go in and out of this mode, so you can get used to the feeling of your senses changing and adjusting. As I'm sure you can tell, it is rather disorienting at first." Faelan suggested and she broke the link between them.

With a few deep breaths in between, they would resynchronise their breathing and create the link between their minds, and use each other's senses to inspect the world around them. Faelan's senses were obviously far superior to Shio's, but being able to use her eyes would be handy, in case he needed to see if she was okay, or if she needed help.

After around an hour of quiet practice, and another hour of discussing different training methods and the sensations that came with improvement in their bond, they decided to call it a night. The young mage hopped into bed with a book that Levy had lent her, which was about a man and woman who fall in love then get separated, and find each other again many years later, to find they still loved each other. She had been reading it for a few days, and just finished it. She placed it face down on her chest and sighed.

A particular man's face came to mind, but she frowned and pushed the thought away. Surely Gray had a girlfriend, or someone that he liked. She didn't even really know him that well yet. She knew his name, how old he is, a bit about his magic and how tough he was. But she felt like he played things very close to the chest, and that she wouldn't be able to get any closer to him.

Instead of continuing her train of thought, she decided to make a vow to herself. Whoever she ended up with, whether it was someone in Fairy Tail, a mage from another guild, or even someone with no magical power, she wanted to be strong enough to look after herself and those she loved. Since a lot of the people she cared for were also incredibly strong S-class mages, she would have to get pretty damn strong to keep up.

She wouldn't get into a relationship until she felt like she would capable to protect the people around her, so that she wouldn't be wasting time with unnecessary distractions. Working at the Fairy Tail bar would help her get by for the mean time, but she was starting to know how it felt to be confident in yourself.

"S-class, here I come."


	6. Take The Fight To Them

**Chapter 6 – Take The Fight To Them**

Shio stretched her arms up above her head as she walked across her small apartment and grabbed herself some cereal to eat. She would summon Faelan when she was ready to leave for her day trip to a nearby town for some sight-seeing. After her breakfast, she dressed and grabbed her pack.

After a deep breath the dark haired woman concentrated until Faelan appeared beside her, ready to go. Shio gave him a pat on the head, and they took off and headed out of Magnolia. The trip wouldn't take too long, but they weren't rushing and took in the nice scenery along the trail. There was a few farmers with carts, and she made sure to not run into anyone along the way.

Over the last few days, she had been working hard and training even harder. Her and Faelan were constantly tapping into each other's minds and senses to help strengthen their bond. Even as they were walking, they would connect and break the link consistently so that they would be able to do it as a reflex, like second nature, instead of having to concentrate on it.

Shio would use Faelan's senses for about a minute, then rest for a minute and continued doing this until they reached the small city named, Malevar Town. There was so many people in the town centre, which had a huge, beautiful fountain in the middle of the large square. There was plenty of small restaurants and cafes, which had some great looking menus, and she made a mental note of one she wanted to get lunch at a bit later.

She made her way toward the aquarium with Faelan at her side, who always got plenty of strange looks. They had a laugh and would show each other through their bond who was giving them funny glances.

"I reckon they think you are an animal that escaped from the zoo, or maybe even a celestial spirit." she bent down a little bit to talk to him so no one around would hear him speak, or think that she was completely insane by trying to have a full conversation with the incredibly large black wolf at her side.

Though he didn't respond, she did hear him chuckle, low in his throat, and he nudged her leg affectionately. As they went in to the aquarium, she was in line to buy a ticket and since Faelan was so big, the lady at the counter almost made her buy a ticket for him. Up until he used his 'big puppy' charm and put his paws on the counter and licked her hand and barked happily at her.

The lady practically melted in her seat over his act, and only made her buy one ticket. They resisted the urge to laugh until they were properly into the aquarium. They made their way past the gift shop, and Shio told Faelan that she would buy him a toy to play with on their way out, which made him bark happily in response.

Due to their bond, she understood what he meant when he barked, and she translated it as "Woo hoo! We better play together when we get home." She laughed at him and gave him a scratch behind the ear.

There was a large tunnel at the start of the exhibits and there was huge tanks everywhere with marine life of all kinds. There was huge fish, and small fish. There was some with lots of colours and some had one bright colour all over.

A lot of the people at the aquarium laughed as Faelan chased the fish around, and ran up and down the length of the tanks trying to keep up with some of them. Shio had to keep reigning him in and telling him to slow down a bit or they might get asked to leave.

"But I'm having fun!" he barked at her with a happy tone. Shio just smiled happily in response.

They had spent almost three hours at the aquarium and bought Faelan a toy before they headed around town to look at a few nice statues. After they were finished, they sat at the fountain and had some water. Shio poured some water into the bowl she bought for Faelan and he drank the whole thing in record time, so she poured a bit more in for him, emptying the bottle.

After a short rest, they headed towards the cafe that Shio liked the look of earlier. She made sure to sit at the most outside table so Faelan could lay on the ground next to her. The waitress was really nice and brought over some water, then came back a moment later with an extra bottle for her 'cute fluffy friend'.

Faelan barked his thanks, and drank after Shio filled up the bowl for him. She ordered a coffee and a sandwich, and the waitress was kind enough to bring over some off cuts of meat and a bit of bread for Faelan to eat. He nuzzled her leg as thanks and she made a high pitched sound of delight. Little did she know, that they could claw people apart and Shio was getting the hang of a half-transformation, that made her look like something out a terrible nightmare.

She dug straight into her sandwich and coffee and thanked the waitress as she picked up the dirty dishes. It was almost as good as her favourite cafe in Magnolia where the blonde waitress there knew her and Faelan both by name, and remembered her order. It was good service. She would definitely have to come to this cafe again though. When she had paid for everything, with a generous tip for the wonderful service, she packed up her purse and everything else into her pack.

It would be dark in a few hours, so she decided to head back to Magnolia. She was just about to get up when Faelan tuned her hearing to his, and she immediately went into fight or flight mode. It sounded like there was a scuffle behind the cafe in the alley between a group of men and she heard muffled sounds of distress from one or two young girls. Faelan was on his feet, ready to run, and Shio quickly got up without making a fuss and put her pack over her shoulders. She waved goodbye to the waitress and stealthily made her way around the back to peek around the corner to see what was going on.

As she peeked around, she saw that the men were pushing the girls into a magic powered car. Before she could run to try and stop them, they took off. She growled angrily, low in her chest and looked to Faelan.

"Let's sniff them out." he suggested, with a dark hint to his voice.

"I have a feeling that we'll have a fight on our hands." Shio's voice held the same darkness to it.

"Mmm." her wolf agreed and they started to track them down by scent.

It was easier to track with the two of them, as they could head in different directions and see how they went.

"Got something!" Faelan spoke into Shio's mind through their bond, and she ran over to join him. "You smell it?" He gestured towards a charm bracelet that one of the girls must have been wearing. It was broken, and the beads and charms were all over the ground.

"It must have broke in the struggle. We can track them down with this." Shio picked up as many of the beads as she could find, and put them in the pocket of her jacket, holding onto the main section of the bracelet for the scent.

Both Shio and Faelan picked up the pace when they picked up her scent and made their way in the same direction that the magically powered car had gone. They sped up as the smell got stronger. They could both tell that they were getting close, and Faelan could sense the adrenalin coursing through Shio's veins as she got more and more mentally prepared for what was going to happen.

After running for about an hour, they came across a small cabin in some dense forest. They could hear voices coming from the cabin and got close enough so that they could both hear exactly what was happening inside. One of the girls was sobbing quietly, and they could hear the men whispering to each other.

"Alright. We need to do something. Any suggestions?" Faelan asked her quietly, so as to make sure they didn't raise the alarm from the people inside.

"I'm going in. Wait for my signal and then together we'll storm the place." She spoke with a strong voice, but Faelan could feel her uncertainty.

"Are you kidding? Those guys could be incredibly powerful." Faelan whispered exasperatedly.

"I feel no magical power from them" she said as shook her head before she scowled angrily."Listen." Shio hissed quietly.

_"We need to do this quickly. Someone might start to notice that they are gone and start searching."_

_"Right. It's my turn first since I picked them out."_

_Footsteps rung out through the house, and the sobbing girl got louder._

_"GET AWAY FROM HER!"_

_The other girl yelled, and it sounded like there was a bit of a physical confrontation between them._

_"I'm sick of this bitch fighting us. That's it!" the sound of a blade being drawn was heard._

Shio growled low and deep, her animal side truly showing and Faelan chuckled at her anger, though he was also a little worried about her being reckless.

"I'm going." she left her spot next to him before he could protest.

Shio waltzed up to the door and Faelan watched as she took a deep breath and kicked the door down in one go. He felt their shared strength behind the kick and felt it flow through her body as she prepared to fight. He knew that she had been doing a bit of physical combat training with Mira, which had shown him how truly terrifying the white-haired girl could be. The wolf shuddered a little at the memory. He used his abilities to look through her eyes to make sure that she would be okay. He was worried for her, but felt her determination would be enough to get her by. None of the men looked like they were particularly strong.

"Let the girls go. Now." her voice was cold and guttural, and it demanded that they listen to her.

"Who the fuck are you?" one of the men piped up, his voice held shock and anger.

Shio looked over to see another man grab the girl that must have been fighting them, and he had a knife held to her throat. She felt herself changing into her half-transformation and she could tell Faelan felt it too. Her fingernails grew into claws, her teeth grew long and sharp, and her musculature increased.

The men shuffled back in fear and before they could see her move, she swiftly moved between the man with the knife and the girl by pushing her out of the way, as gently as she could whilst getting her away from the man. The scuffle was brief before Shio disarmed the man and sent her hand flying into his face and knocked him out cold.

She howled the signal for 'NOW!' to Faelan, who came in running and leapt on one of the men and he was completely defenceless against the huge wolf. They made quick work of the other men, and Shio tied them up before she reversed her transformation after she roared in their faces to keep them put. She was barely able to stand due to exhaustion from using it in a fight for the first time. There was a few of her magic-use cuts on her, and one that stung more than normal which she figured out was from trying to disarm the man that had the knife earlier.

"Faelan, please go and find some police in the town. I'll stay here with the girls and watch these assholes."

Her voice was even, with no hint of her thoughts. She began untying the girls who hugged her and thanked her over and over again. Shio tried to comfort them the best she could, but she knew that she would have to ask them to recall what happened so they could tell the police. She handed the girls what was left of one of their bracelets as well, causing more tears of relief.

Faelan got back a few minutes later with the police and some other...unexpected guests...

"Why are you guys here?!" Shio's jaw dropped when she saw some familiar faces.

BACK IN MAGNOLIA A FEW HOURS AGO

_"We're back!" Natsu roared as he went through the front door of the guild hall._

_"Welcome back everyone!" Mira greeted them as they all sat at the bar and talked about their mission._

_"Did we miss anything while we were away?" Lucy asked Mira, who put a finger to her chin and thought before shaking her head._

_"Is Shio working today? I want to let her know we are back." Gray piped up, straining to say 'we' instead of 'I' so everyone wouldn't get the wrong idea._

_"She took a trip to the aquarium the next town over. She probably should be back soon. I asked her to check in when she got home. She said she would be back well before dark." Mira's voice was cheery as always, and she had an unusually cheeky smirk on her face that Gray ignored._

_For a while, the group chatted generally until Gray started looking at the door frequently. Mira was getting worried too. Shio should definitely be back by now, as it would start getting dark soon. Erza picked up on the tense atmosphere and decided to make a suggestion._

_"How about we try to find her? If we make our way toward the town, we may even run into her if she is on her way back." the red haired woman asked and she had barely finished the sentence before Gray had stripped off his shirt and started towards the door._

_Lucy, Mira and Erza shared a smile, all thinking the exact same thing. Natsu and Happy were clueless as per usual, and just shrugged before they followed Gray out the door. Lucy and Erza stood up and followed behind them._

_"I'm glad to see Gray has taken an interest in Shio. It's nice to see him so..." Lucy trailed off, trying to find the right words._

_"Passionate?" Erza offered._

_"Yeah. Passionate."_

_They both smiled and picked up the pace so they could catch up to the boys as Happy teased Lucy._

"We came to find you. Natsu picked up your scent in town and we followed the trail here." Erza smiled, glad to see their guild member and friend was okay, though she looked dead on her feet tired.

"Shio!" Grays' voice was ragged with a mix of fear and relief. He ran over to her straight away and looked her over.

Shio was ready to smile and thank them all for coming and apologise for making them worry, when Gray's scolding interrupted her.

"What were you thinking?!" he yelled and stunned her. The other Fairy Tail mages were also shocked. Erza was about to storm over and yell at him, but Natsu placed a hand on her shoulder to stop her. He had a surprisingly wise and serene look on his face, so she didn't move since it was rare for Natsu to have a moment of insight. He was usually right when he had one though.

"You could have been killed, running in there by yourself! Why couldn't you have sent Faelan to get us? We could have helped!" though his voice was loud at first, it slowly quietened to a distressed whisper. "You shouldn't be so reckless." he walked to stand only inches from her and she just stared at the empty space to the left of him so she didn't have to look him in the eye. "I was worried."

The concern in his voice made her look up at him. The anger had melted away and it left behind fear and concern. Fear that she would get hurt, or killed. Concern for her safety. He knew that she was working hard to get strong, but that wouldn't happen over night. She couldn't just throw herself in danger to prove herself worthy.

"I'm alright. I promise." she smiled as best she could, though she was incredibly tired. Too tired to even realise that he was only in his boxers, which meant he was probably worried and incredibly serious about finding her. "I just used a half-transformation and it tired me out, that's all."

"Half-transformation? Already?" he asked quietly, surprised she got this far into her training already.

"Mmhmm." her eyes were heavy, but she knew she had to get home. She felt dead on her feet.

Abruptly, her feet were lifted off the ground and she felt skin on skin. She had been hoisted up on Gray's back. She felt warm and cold at the same time, being this close to him, and most importantly, she felt safe. Her eyes started to close of their own volition but they snapped open when she heard one of the girls yelling for her to wait. Shio watched the older one run over to her, the younger girl who still had tears in her eyes followed behind.

"I wanted to thank you for what you did. I know what was going to happen next to us, and I'm glad that you came when you did. I...I would have...been _killed_ if you didn't attack them when you did. My sister would have...been..." she choked out and was desperately trying not to cry and Shio placed a hand on her shoulder. She was too tired to see Gray's slight embarrassment, feeling bad for yelling at her earlier for not waiting for someone to come and help.

"I know. You are both okay. I'm sure your family will be worried. You should get home." she patted the girls shoulder in a comforting gesture and nodded for Gray to move on.

The others followed behind her and Faelan stuck right to Gray's side, which meant he was right next to Shio as well. Shio could feel that he was worried, and gave him a mental scratch behind the ears so he would know that she was okay.

It didn't take long for her to fall asleep over Gray's back, while he allowed himself a tiny smile, now knowing that he knew she was safe.

* * *

"Ack!" Shio exclaimed, sunlight shining through her window, directly into her eyes, forcing her awake.

She rolled over angrily and went to push herself to a seated position, but her bed started making strange sounds. Her eyes fell upon pale skin, with a dark blue Fairy Tail tattoo on their chest. Her eyes still didn't register until they saw a face, eyes open staring at her.

"Ah!" she yelped again as her mind finally clicked that Gray was laying next to her.

He made a sound of distress when she went to move her hand, and grabbed on so she couldn't move it. She looked down to see that if she moved it, she was going to press straight into his nether-regions, which surprisingly were covered with a pair of boxers.

She moved faster than she ever had and squirmed out of his grip as her face flushed dark red, all the way to her ears. It only took a moment for her to run into the bathroom and shut the door behind her. Faelan had stood up after she ran from the bed, and he just stared at Gray for a moment before he laid back down next to the bed, nonplussed by whatever just happened.

In the bathroom, Shio stared at her reddened face in the mirror. She didn't even remember the trip back, or getting home. Gray must have taken her home and put her in bed. Why did he stay there though? Was he still worried about her? The thought made her blush more. She sighed exasperatedly then groaned as she went about her business in the bathroom. Obviously she was in no state to even walk on her own, so she was appreciative of his help.

When she opened the door and walked out, Gray was leaning against the wall, probably waiting to use it after her. She flinched a little, but tried not to make it too obvious. She could swear that he smirked on his way into the bathroom, so she dropped her chin to her chest and sighed again after he shut the door.

Instead of dwelling on it, she simply brushed it aside and headed to the kitchen. There was absolutely nothing fresh to eat for breakfast. Faelan appeared beside her and she smiled at him. He just stared back with a knowing look in his eyes. Shio frowned at him, and wasn't sure what he meant, but didn't bother asking as Gray coming out from the bathroom distracted her.

"I'm sorry, I don't have anything to cook for breakfast." Shio gestured to the empty fridge and cupboards.

"It's alright. Why don't we go out for breakfast?" he responded and picked up his shirt from the lounge, where he must have left it.

Faelan couldn't contain his laughter and Gray was confused as Shio snarled at him, which just made him laugh even harder. HIs brow furrowed and Shio sighed for the millionth time that morning and nodded.

"Okay. I'll just put something a little more, uh, appropriate on."

With that thought, she looked down to see what she was wearing. She certainly wasn't wearing the clothes she had on yesterday, and was very confused as to how or who changed her clothing. When she raised her head, she pointed her narrowed eyes at Gray and an eyebrow lifted in question.

Instead of answering her question, he just grinned mischeviously at her until her eyes went as wide as saucers, her jaw dropped and . She glanced at Faelan as if to ask him for help, and Gray ended her torture by letting her know what really happened.

"Lucy and Erza helped you change into some clean clothes. Your clothes from yesterday were covered in blood and sweat. They cleaned off some of the mess as best they could. I just stayed here to keep an eye on you over night since you were unconscious for so long." he answered in a very anti-climatic tone, and Shio huffed in relief.

Though she did have a ridiculously big crush on Gray, she was still way to shy for him to see her stark-naked. She was still quite embarassed about all of her scars that she got from the first time her magical power practically exploded out of her. Her body wasn't anything compared to his ripped form, and she had a flash of insecurity before she decided that she would just put on some of the nice clothes that Lucy had gave to her to make her feel better.

"Thanks for making me feel incredibly insecure for a moment there." she was about to continue speaking but Gray cut her off.

"I wouldn't feel insecure if I were you. You haven't forgotten the million times that you've been asked out since you came to Magnolia, right? Little Romeo is smitten with you." Gray chuckled, remembering the look on the Macao's sons face when he saw Shio for the first time. "If you are worried that you can't keep up with girls like Lucy, Erza, and Mira, you should take a better look in the mirror."

He smiled at her and she stared him straight in the eyes for a moment until she smiled the cutest damn smile he had ever seen in his life. Her cheeks flushed a little bit pink, just enough for him to notice from his spot next to the lounge. He had to avert his eyes and focus on controlling his breathing when she bit her lip. _Shit, she's definitely gotten under my skin,_ he thought to himself, hoping that mind-reading wasn't part of her newly discovered skill set.

She watched him intensely for a moment, and focused her eyes to see that his pulse had increased and she heard his breathing speed up. This was a new part of her skills that she was learning to use. Faelan laughing in his mind broke her from her trance and she rolled her eyes at him. The dark-haired woman had absolutely no idea what he was laughing at.

"Summon me when you want me." Faelan disappeared without another word, and Shio frowned, knowing that he was probably cracking up laughing in his own world.

"You can just go and get some breakfast if you like. I think I should probably shower before I go anywhere." she suggested and Gray just shook his head to say that he would wait, and she headed to the bathroom.

While she showered and changed quickly Gray had some time to calm himself down. No woman had truly had this big of an effect on him before. He was a young man, who could certainly appreciate an attractive female. He saw some of the most attractive women in Fiore every day, but he hadn't had the same... _thoughts_...as he had about Shio just then. He had grown up with most of the women in the guild, except Lucy, who he always thought was quite cute, and Juvia just creeped him out for too long. She was always a really nice girl, and he just wished that she had been herself around him instead of being so obsessive.

He had experience with girls before, considering how many women in Magnolia and other towns he went to gave him plenty of attention, and that he used to hang out with Loke. He had previously had a girlfriend for a few months who he had been intimate with, but that's as far as his experience got. The girl that he had been with was great at initiating things that he was too nervous, or unsure of himself to do, so if he wanted to try and get a bit closer to Shio, he wasn't entirely sure of how that would work. He doubted it would be like Lucy and Natsu, who just grew closer together since the celestial mage and the firey idiot came to Fairy Tail and just walked in holding hands one day last week. He knew that Erza and Jellal were together and had secret trysts, which he thought was nice. They all deserved to be happy, but he hadn't really considering himself in this 'being happy with someone' equation.

Before he could think more on it, Shio came out from the bedroom wearing an outfit that was less skimpy than the stuff Lucy wore, but he recognised her style in the clothes. Shio had a similar figure, with gorgeous soft curves and he couldn't help but stare for longer than was probably appropriate. She didn't see as she was fiddling with the hem on her skirt, that just seemed a little shorter than it looked laid out on her bed. All these clothes looked great on Lucy, but Shio wasn't sure she would pull them off the same way. When she looked up and smiled at Gray to indicate that she was ready, she got all the confidence she needed. Though she was inexperienced, she could tell that Gray definitely approved of her appearance. She giggled and grabbed a small bag with her money and apartment keys in it and headed out the front door, and Gray trailed behind, still trying not to stare as she pulled the door shut behind them.

It was nice to walk out of the Fairy Hills complex with him next to her, and she couldn't help but smile as she felt the suns warmth on her skin as they went to street closest to her apartment with loads of places to get some nice food. Shio led him to her favourite cafe and waved to the blonde waitress, named Elena, that she liked. When she showed them to their seat, Elena whispered so Gray couldn't hear them.

"That's Gray Fullbuster, right? Oh my, he's so cute. Are you guys dating?" Elena asked with a hand over her chest and a mischievous smirk on her face.

"Hah, no. We aren't." Shio chuckled and shook her head awkwardly at Elena's dramatic display.

"Doesn't seem that way. I saw how you guys were eyeing each other." she whispered but then raised her voice so Gray would hear. "I'll just presume it's a matter of time before I hear the good news!" she walked off triumphantly as Gray gave her a questioning look as he sat across from her.

Shio just waved her hand as if to dismiss it so he wouldn't worry about it. Elena brought over some water and menus for them and winked obviously at Shio before she headed towards another table, and Shio could hear a slight giggle coming from her. Another sigh escaped her lips, and she felt like that was all she had been doing today, enough to last her a month.

"Shio. About yesterday." Gray piped up, scratching the back of his head in a nervous gesture, and staring into his lap. "I wanted to apologise for -" she cut him off before he could complete his sentence.

"It's alright. I understand." Shio just smiled at him to try and placate him, though she was still a bit cranky at his lack of faith in her, she knew it came from a good place, and decided that it was better for them to not bicker about the issue.

"Thanks. I'm glad you're okay." Gray returned her smile.

"How could I ever be scared for my safety being in Fairy Tail? It seems like you were ready to come to the rescue anyway." She said casually and poured them some water before she stared at her menu. "You guys are all so crazy strong, I think if I just told anyone I was from Fairy Tail, they would soil themselves and run away. Or pay me not to tell you guys who had hurt me." she heard him chuckle and felt the awkwardness dissipate.

"It doesn't always work that way, unfortunately." he kept his voice light for the sake of his company, since she didn't know how many near death experiences most of them had gone through, and how many times the guild hall had been wrecked by a dark guild or whomever.

Elena came back and took their order, whilst simultaneously trying to embarrass the hell out of Shio, who just glared daggers at her until she chuckled under her breath and gave up. It wasn't long before she brought out their meals, and Shio didn't realise how intensely hungry she was until she smelt her food. Her stomach growled and Gray laughed at her. She hadn't eaten since yesterday afternoon, and used up a lot of energy on her half-transformation so she definitely had to eat a good breakfast to get some of her strength back.

When they were done, Elena brought them their check and Gray fixed it up before Shio could get the money out of her purse.

She frowned at him, "Why did you do that? I could have at least paid half." she continued frowning at him when he shrugged and he finally responded.

"Your rent is more expensive." he answered nonchalantly, and stood up.

"Well, thank you. I do appreciate it." she waved to Elena who thanked them and said goodbye from the counter.

"What are you going to do now?" Gray asked, and he sounded much more confident than he felt. He didn't want to creep her out, or pester her.

"Hmm, I should probably go and see Mira. She's probably still worried. I may as well give her a hand for a few hours since Faelan is being weird and fricked off." she pressed her lips together, remembering her furry companion's behaviour earlier this morning. He was a strange creature, but he was _her_ strange creature.

"Okay. I'll walk you up there." he offered and started heading in the direction of the guild.

Shio sighed, but not because she was flustered or embarrassed. This time it was in frustration. He had literally just apologised earlier for his actions the day before half an hour ago, and yet he was already babying her again. Maybe he was still worried. Though she understood his desire to protect and look after his team mates, she hoped that he wouldn't be like this forever. Even when she was in her village, no one was so overprotective. That may have been because everyone knew everyone and there was no crime in their small community.

"You can go and do your own thing. I'm okay...honestly." she smiled at him as reassuringly as she could, so he would just chill out.

He did watch her quietly before he nodded. "Okay. I'm going to do some training then. I'll see you around."

Without another word, he waved and headed in the opposite direction, and Shio did not look away for a moment, just to make sure he didn't try following her. He didn't turn around so she was satisfied and she made her way to the guild. Everything was in full swing, as it usually was about this time and Mira grinned at her happily, glad to see her young friend was doing okay. A few people said hi and asked if she was alright on her way over to the bar and she nodded and greeted everyone in return. It was nice to be worried about and cared for, but she wasn't used to this sort of bond between people who weren't related. It was good to see the camaraderie in a guild as big as Fairy Tail.

Mira asked about what happened and Shio helped out behind the bar and explained everything, and she managed to have a large group listening by the time she was finished. A few of them piped up and praised her for helping the two girls.

"That's a man!" Elfman hit the bar with his fist, making everyone's cups wobble.

"Elfman, I'm a girl." Shio laughed at him, though she knew what he meant. Elfman just shrugged his ridiculously huge shoulders in response.

The rest of the day went well, as she hung out with her family, serving drinks and food and helping to clean up. She had a few short conversations with a few members of the guild during the day, and had a nice chat with Levy on her lunch break. In the late afternoon Mira sent her home with some leftovers that she could eat for dinner. It was really helpful since she hadn't had time to get any food today, and all the shops were shut by now.

When she arrived back at her place, she summoned Faelan so her not-so-big apartment didn't feel so empty and they did some meditation training after they ate dinner. The half-transformation was good, but she needed to start learning some of the magic skills instead of taking everyone out with her bare hands. It wasn't long before Shio was tired and she showered after tidying up a little bit and hung out some washing so she would have some clean clothes for the next few weeks. When she hopped into bed, Faelan curled up beside her and it didn't take long for her to fall into dreams...


	7. Tenacity

**Chapter 7: Tenacity**

Shio hissed in pain as a cut opened up on her leg. A rather large one as well. Mira's Satan Soul was terrifyingly strong and her speed was too much so she tried to use more magical power to keep up. Faelan stopped running at the same time that Mira was descending to the ground when they saw her falter. Shio fell to her knees and growled angrily, hitting the solid ground with her closed fist, frustrated at herself. Her fist make quite a deep dent in the hard dirt.

Mira reverted back to her normal, sweet, smiling form as she strolled over to her upset friend. They had been training every day or two for about an hour after they finished working at the guild hall for the day, and Shio was getting impatient with herself. Over the last three months, she had been trying to master techniques and magical abilities that she could learn in her half-transformation. She had already got her normal form skills sorted. Most of them revolved around her physical abilities, but the one that used her claws like a sword, creating an arc of power that sliced through the air just wasn't working for her.

So far, she had created a tiny line that wouldn't even give anyone a paper cut. Mira could see how frustrated she was. Shio had spoken to her in confidence many times about her change in heart with learning magic. At first, she wasn't comfortable with learning something that had killed her whole family and the rest of her village, but she also learnt from her fellow team mates in Fairy Tail that having strength could protect those you care about, which meant she had a new reason for learning magic.

To ensure she never lost anyone again.

This had been a repeated point in their discussions, and the reason why she was so angry now. Shio felt that if she couldn't master such a technique, how would she ever be able to stand amongst the strongest members of Fairy Tail as an equal. She didn't want to be someone in the background forever. She wanted to give the weak a feeling of safety and security, and strike fear in the hearts of those who would hurt the people she cared for. The white haired woman knew that it wasn't for a sense of pride, or a desire for enough power to control others. It was sort of strength that made Fairy Tail such an incredible guild; the strength of love and friendship.

Mira placed a comforting hand on Shio's shoulders, able to see the tear tracks on her face. It was hard seeing her friend so upset, but that's why she had offered to help. Shio knew that Mira was so strong that she could take any attack that Shio was going to throw at her while she learnt to perfect it, so she could control the lethality of the skill.

Unfortunately, Shio wasn't very good at making short term goals. Instead, she just kept the big picture, the end game in her head, and just wouldn't stop until she got there. Her efficiency at controlling her half-transformation was perfected about 5 weeks ago, and she had gotten two new physical abilities to use. Her general power had increased at least three fold, but it still it wasn't enough. Mira was worried that she was just exhausting herself and would get sick, or severely injure herself. Something like that would only push her training further back. There had been a few minor injuries, like a rolled ankle, or pulled muscle, but luckily nothing serious. Yet.

Shio only seemed to have two modes. Relaxed and full blast. Mira couldn't seem to convince her to slow down and take a break. It took all her persuasiveness and gentle manipulation to get Shio to spar with her once a day, instead of twice, then she talked her down to once every day or two about two weeks ago after either of them could barely work behind the bar due to being so tired. It was a good workout for the S-class mage, who was in Sorcerer Weekly consistently, but she got tired too, and Shio seemed to have blinkers that prevented her from seeing anything else that her goal. Mira had considered asking Natsu or Laxus to spar with her, but neither of them really knew how to hold back, and would probably beat her senseless. Same with Erza. Gray just wouldn't be able to help because he would barely cool the air around them from fear of hurting her.

After taking a minute to decide what to say, Mira spoke up in the happiest voice she could. Faelan wagged his tail, hoping that would convey his agreement.

"Shio. I am so proud of you!" Mira beamed her best and brightest smile at Shio, who just returned her gaze with a furrowed brow and wide eyes.

"Why?" Shio asked quietly, still breathless from her earlier efforts.

"Because you have come so far in such a short time! Your efforts have allowed you to triple or maybe even quadruple your strength in the few months you have been in Fairy Tail." she answered with no hesitation at all, still smiling brightly.

"You should not despair, my friend. I did not think we would get this bonded in a year or two, let alone a few months. We are only getting better and stronger together." Faelan echoed Mira's praise and hoped that Shio would accept it. He did not want his companion upset, especially since he could feel it too.

"Why don't you go on an easy mission, to prove this to yourself?" Mira recommended, and quickly darted back into the guild hall.

She returned a moment later with a mission flyer that was asking for two mages to assist with security at a big formal dinner in Hargeon worth 120,000 jewel. The reward wasn't too high, which suggested a low risk of serious danger, but not so low that danger and attacks were guaranteed not to happen. Usually missions like this paid more due to the nature of the task as well. Whoever organised the event would want to make sure that nothing could possibly go wrong, thus being happy to pay mages to assist in security detail and pay well enough to ensure someone capable would accept the job.

Though she was still frustrated, Shio nodded and accepted the mission. Now she would just have to figure out who to take with her...

* * *

"Lucy, you have such a nice place! Is it really only 70,000 jewel for rent?" Lucy nodded in response. "Fairy Hills is so expensive. I can barely afford it. If I don't work at the guild every day, I wouldn't have the money. Gray paid half my rent last month and didn't tell me either. It was really nice of him, but I don't want to be a charity case forever." Shio groaned and put her chin to her chest, and didn't see Lucy's cheeky smirk when Gray was mentioned. Faelan lifted his head just enough to glance at Shio, and though she didn't see it, she felt his gaze at the back of her head.

The tea Lucy was making smelt amazing and she brought over two cups and poured them both, adding a little sugar to her own. Lucy had been surprised by Shio's visit because usually she kept to herself, or was just too busy training to simply hang out. Lucy really liked her though, and was glad when Shio made her proposal for them to go on a mission together for the purpose of proving to herself that she was fairly strong.

"So, what's the mission?" she asked, her spoon making circles in her cup.

"We have to work as security at a formal dinner. It pays 120,000 jewel which is pretty good. It shouldn't be too tricky. I think if they were expecting trouble it would be worth a bit more." Shio explained, sipping her tea occasionally. It was rose and vanilla, and tasted amazing.

"Sounds awesome. Do we get to dress up?" Lucy said excitedly with a grin.

"I would say that we would need to be in formal clothes, yes." Ship smiled at how happy the idea of dressing up made Lucy. It was easy when she had a spirit who could just get her nice clothes whenever she needed them.

The two girls laughed happily, and talked about their hair and make up for the night, something that Shio was not well-versed in, but Lucy just told her that she would help her get ready. The job entailed them to go to the venue and speak to the other security guards, and the event manager a few hours before the dinner was supposed to start, so that they would be familiar with the building, entrances, exits, blind spots etc.

"So how are things with you and Natsu going?" Ship enquired with a devilish smirk on her face.

"They are going... _ _good__." Lucy chuckled with flushed cheeks.

"That good? Wow." Ship was practically in stitches laughing at how much Lucy was blushing. "I'm happy for you. You guys are really sweet together. Natsu seems to have... levelled out a little too. He seems to be very enraptured with you. It's nice." The dark haired woman smiled, but Lucy could tell that it was a little forced.

"What is it?" she asked, the happy tone in her voice was gone, replaced with concern. Shio shook her head, but Lucy wouldn't have it. "Shio. We are friends. You can talk to me about anything."

"She likes a certain ice mage and she is embarrassed because she doesn't know what to do about it." Faelan spoke up without opening his eyes.

"Thanks, best friend." Shio tapped him on his nose for being a smart ass and glared when he mock-growled at her.

"I knew it." Lucy grinned and clapped her hands in girlish excitement. "I reckon he likes you too. He's so protective of you!"

"To the point of putting me on a figurative leash." When Lucy raised an eyebrow in question, she went on. "He seems to have been conveniently forgetting that I'm not as weak as I was when I first walked in here. Or carried, rather." Shio frowned and stared angrily into her tea.

"Isn't half the idea of this mission to prove your strength to yourself, not Gray?" the busty blonde questioned her with a heavy stare.

"Well, yes. I know I am at least a little bit stronger than I used to be. I just want to be strong enough to stand beside you guys and not be a weak link." Lucy opened her mouth to speak, but Shio raised her hand to signal her to stop. "Gray didn't think I could take down a few guys with no magical power and one half-dull blade. C'mon Lucy, that's a bit much. I'm sparring with Mira every other day, and she's scary shit!" she took a deep breath and threaded her fingers together. "I just want him to acknowledge that I am becoming a strong mage, and a strong woman."

"Training with Mira will help a lot. Look at it this way, Natsu is one of the strongest mages I've ever seen, maybe besides Laxus and the Master. Then there's Erza, Gray, and Gildarts, whom you haven't met because he's always off doing ridiculously hard missions. You already know Mystogan." She paused to take a deep breath, "My point is that barely anyone in this guild stands even with those guys. How do you think I feel when I go on missions with Natsu? There isn't a hope in hell that I could stand equal to him."

"You don't have to have brute strength to be strong. Your spirits are wonderfully versatile. It's your smarts that probably get your missions done." Shio smiled and laughed softly with her friend.

"I know that you are right, but it doesn't always appease our emotional side. I'm sure you feel the same. You can't always convince yourself fully with these things." Lucy kept smiling, but it turned into her lips being pulled tight into a flat line, before she laughed abruptly. "You llliiikkkee Gray." She rolled her tongue like Happy does.

Shio laughed and shook her head. She was embarrassed but she knew Lucy wouldn't say anything outside of these walls. However, she picked up a scent that was very familiar and her jaw practically dropped to the floor. The young woman turned towards the window and her expression immediately turned horrified as a pink-haired man came in through the normal entrance the dragon slayer would normally take, instead of the front door. The wolf girl immediately grabbed Natsu by his shirt and put him against the wall.

"What did you hear?!" Shio whispered ruggedly, shaking him violently.

"You llliikkkkeee Grraaayyy." Happy echoed and Shio tried to grab him, but the Exceed just flew out of her reach.

Natsu laughed his devilish laugh and weaselled his way out of her grip. He leapt back through the window and Shio spared no time chasing after him, leaving Lucy and Faelan sitting there, staring at one another. Lucy just shrugged, still able to hear Natsu cackling and Shio hollering at him down the street.

"Natsuuu! Get back here!" Shio got frustrated when Natsu started running backwards and making faces at her. She growled and felt her form change into her partial transformation, and it didn't take long for her to catch up with her increased muscles and speed.

The dragon slayer yelped when she sped up and when she was in range, she jumped and spun mid air, sending her foot flying into his face. She heard him grunt in pain as he flew through the air and landed in the river in Lucy's street. He climbed out and tried to run away on the other side, but Shio leapt across the large gap with ease and grabbed the back of his shirt. She not-so-gently put him on the ground and stood over him.

"Natsu, please. I don't want him to know." Shio's face made him stop laughing. She looked terrified, but she held onto him as he tried to get our of her iron grip.

Before the conversation could continue, Natsu's face dead panned. Shio wasn't sure why, but a voice soon told her.

"Who don't you want you know? And what do you not want them to know?"

Gray's voice stopped Shio's barrage and she heard Happy snort with the effort of not laughing as he fluttered above them. Shio snarled at the blue cat and tried to swat at him. When she remembered who was standing behind them, and what the earlier subject matter was, she almost soiled herself with shock. She let go of Natsu and scratched the back of her head awkwardly as she spun to face the ice mage, who was thoroughly confused about what was going on.

"Nothing! Nothing at all! Anyway, I've got to go to the guild hall to help Mira. See you guys later!" she turned to see Lucy hanging out the window, watching with a cheeky grin on her face, Faelan was slowly making his way toward her and picked up his pace when he noticed they were leaving. "Bye Lucy! Thanks for the tea!" she yelled loud enough for the blonde to hear and power walked away, leaving behind Natsu, who was still rolling on the ground laughing, Happy alongside him and Gray standing next to them with his hands in his pockets, wondering what the hell just happened.

* * *

Gray was back at the guild hall after trying to get information out of Natsu for the last hour. Both him and Happy had just cracked up laughing every time he had brought it up, but kept their lips sealed other than that. Lucy didn't seem to know what they were going on about either.

He had gone to find Natsu after he had found a mission for them. Erza was away on a mission, presumably with Jellal somewhere for some of that time as well, and he had found out that Lucy and Shio were going on their own mission, so he would just be going with flame-brain, but Natsu declined, saying that he was going on a fishing trip with Happy.

It was just a boring delivery mission for a rich man who wasn't able to attend a cousin's wedding due to illness. They had to deliver the very expensive gift he had bought and make sure it didn't get damaged or stolen. Nothing too interesting, but the easiest way there was by train, so he asked Wendy to come along to help out, but she was busy as well, so he decided to go on his own.

The ice mage's gaze fell upon the young woman he couldn't deny that he might be a slight bit interested in. It was a nice, fuzzy feeling, but he wasn't exactly sure what that might mean for him and Shio. Was he supposed to ask her out? Should he leave it alone since they were guild mates, and would probably end up working together?

With a sigh, he put his head in his hands and stared at the marks on the wooden table. This was probably something he should ask someone else about, but he wanted to avoid being made fun of, or have someone blurt it out to Shio. If he asked Mira, she would definitely not be able to keep it to herself, same as Lucy. He couldn't take Natsu seriously, though he had changed since he got together with Lucy. Erza would just be scarily serious, and everyone else would make fun of him.

After an almost silent groan, he looked back up to see Shio smiling and laughing with Mira, at the Master, who was quite clearly drunk and having a hiccuping fit, whilst he sat on the counter. His hiccups were incredibly loud and almost shook the entire bar.

Gray watched as Shio turned towards him, probably feeling his eyes on her and he didn't know what to do, so he just smiled and looked away. Little did he know, Shio almost melted from seeing his adorable, shy smile. It made her feel more awkward about him nearly finding out about her feelings earlier today. Faelan had gone back to his world after realising that Shio was going to glare at him all day for telling her secret to Lucy, and technically Natsu and Happy as well.

She was sort of avoiding Gray, but hopefully not enough for him to notice. The young woman just wasn't ready to face him yet after whatever it was that happened earlier today. She was going to be sparring with Mira in an hour, and she wasn't sure if she wanted him to be around or not. Not many people knew that she was training with the white-haired Take Over mage, but the Master knew, and Levy as well.

Since Levy knew, Gajeel would know. Jet and Droy too. Laxus would know since the Master knew, meaning that Freed, Bickslow would know as well as Evergreen. Elfman had probably already told Evergreen anyway since he and Lisanna knew. Macao knew, being a former Master and Wakaba would know too, and more than likely Romeo knew. Wendy knew due to being required for a few short healing sessions a couple of times.

A frown came over her face as she realised that a lot of people actually knew about it already.

It had been good, helping her hone her skills further, but she had been having strange dreams of late. She would be looking through her own eyes, and seeing a deep red sky. Then it seemed like she switched to another person's view, who she at first thought would be Faelan, but when she saw herself it looked like she had made a full-transformation, or what she assumed it would look like. It was quite menacing to see from another's perspective. She would watch as she raised her straight arms and made a blood curdling howl, but she would always wake up straight after and didn't know what happened after.

When she had asked Faelan about it, and 'showed' him the images she recalled through their mental bond, his eyes opened wide in fear. It was rare to see the direwolf lose his composure, and that indicated to Shio just how serious this was. She wasn't entirely sure that she wanted to know what her dreams meant, but she knew she had to know, just in case it was something that was going to happen, like a vision. The conversation ran through her mind, reminding her of her possible fate.

_"_ __So, what you saw was a full-transformation. Pretty horrifying, hmm?" Shio nodded her agreement before he continued. "In the past, a lot of Kisan-Aralyn's understood the dangers of their power, and did not risk trying to make a full-transformation. Most of the time, previous and more arrogant summoners would make the change and either die from too much blood payment being taken because they weren't ready, or they would survive long enough to lose their humanity after transforming." he explained with a level, calm tone._ _

__"A full-transformation can kill you, just from the blood payment required?" Shio questioned, becoming a bit concerned about aiming for a full change after hearing that news._ _

__"Yes, it can. If you aren't ready. The actual change itself is...rather simple to complete." his slight hesitation made her furrow her brow, since that was different to what he had said before. "However, the more we train, the more bonded we get, therefore I require less blood for payment."_ _

__"You didn't tell me before that we could make the change easily. You told me that people stopped using the third skill, and that the summoner and creature would fight to the death about the use of their power. Did you lie to protect us?" Shio questioned him firmly, only assuming that he was trying to do the right thing and he confirmed it with a nod. "It's fine, I totally understand. But why have you just now told me the truth?"_ _

__"To be entirely honest, it's because I now know who you are. I know that you are not an arrogant person, or someone so desperate for power that they would risk both our lives and sanity, as well as the lives of those around them to achieve said power. Now we are so bonded, I know I can trust you with this knowledge." There was no wavering in his voice, only a little pride when he was saying that he trusted her._ _

__"To my understanding, we can make the change after you have gotten the hang of the half form. But I am not sure if there is any prerequisite. We haven't really been able to get much outside assistance, which is very different to previous summoners from years ago. Normally, barely any one risked it after the first few summoners would die from the strain on the body during the change. There was also the risk of permanent madness, due to survival instincts kicking in too strong when the body was weak or the two minds fighting over the one form. The process is not reversible. Some would go mad and be killed due to them attacking humans and livestock." the macabre nature of the conversation worried Shio, considering that these things could happen to her and Faelan._ _

__"Has anyone ever achieved mastery over the full-transformation, enough to change at will?" Shio still wanted to know the chances of being able to bond that much with Faelan, and gain that ability. It might be the only way she could become a strong, independent, S-class mage._ _

__"Yes, there has been. I do not know exactly how many, as I am not sure how far our line of skill goes back. It may be a few lifetimes or a thousand years. I do know of one, but only his name, not the companion creature. His name was Orion. He almost died the first time he made the change but managed to fight back the madness. Everyone comes close to death, but he was the first to achieve control over the full form. If we ever decide to try it, we must ensure that we make our first change in a safe place. The trauma on the summoners body is just too much for them to do it in the midst of a battle."_ _

__"I think we can wait a while before we try something like that. There's still more I want to do with the half form. I still haven't gotten to grips with using the flash step. Still way to slow with it, and it takes too much concentration for me to do it instantly." she shrugged and exhaled heavily, trying to come to terms with all that Faelan had just told her._ _

Both Shio and Mira finished up about an hour later, and there was barely anyone in the guild at this time of evening, since most people had gone home to their friends and families. Even the Master had gone home already. Gray was still at the counter making small talk with Mira, whilst Shio hid out the back for ages, though she was actually keeping busy by organising huge barrels of alcohol, which she used her partial form to have the strength to move.

She had heard him announce that he was heading home for the night, and started to feel bad. He hadn't done anything wrong, and she knew she shouldn't ignore or avoid him. It was just her own embarrassment getting to her. Mira seemed to have great timing as she called out to ask Shio to bring out a large barrel straight away and she lifted it onto her shoulder and carried it out just as Gray stepped off the bar stool.

His eyes went wide as she gently put the barrel down on the ground, that was almost the same size as her, and he watched carefully to see her muscles shrink and her fingers go back to their normal length. He had been toying with the idea of asking her out, and the idea almost slipped his mind completely as he saw the unnatural display of strength from the girl who was only about 5" tall.

"Are you using your transformations to help you move those?" Gray asked, looking her over as she went back to normal. The differences were visible, but only if you knew where to look. Her leg muscles went back their normal size, but he could see that she was a lot more toned than a few months ago. Of course, his observations were purely to assess her strength, not just because she was attractive.

Shio was too distracted hooking up the new barrel to see him checking her out, but Mira's eyes noticed straight away, though she kept silent.

"Sure am. Now Elfman doesn't have to do it, since I can just use a partial change to develop the extra musculature. It's good practice for me too." She lifted her head up to make eye contact and smiled at him. The expression on his face was unreadable and she looked back down as she put everything in place and removed the old barrel.

"I was just about to head off. You and Lucy have your mission tomorrow, don't you?" he asked, figuring that he would leave tomorrow as well.

"Yeah, it should be interesting. I'm sure Lucy will forget about it being a mission and put me in some ridiculous outfit that is incredibly impractical and shows too much skin." Shio chuckled lightly as she leaned against the bar. Gray was a bit disappointed that he wouldn't get to see that.

"Okay. I've got a delivery mission, so I'll probably leave tomorrow too. I should be back the day after." Gray quickly glanced at Mira, who said her goodbye and headed away from the two young mages, and he hesitated before he blurted out his question. "Did you want to get dinner together when I get back?" Before she even got a chance to answer, he continued blurting. "It's okay if you don't want to."

Shio laughed, and her cheeks went bright red as she bit her lip nervously. "I'd like that."

"Awesome." he said after he exhaled in relief. "I'll come to your place when I get back. The train will bring me back around 4 o'clock."

Shio just nodded in response, not really sure what to say or do in this situation. Gray nodded as well, and his eyes darted around the bar for a moment before he reached out and brushed his fingers against the back of her hand in an affectionate gesture. He pulled his hand back just as fast, and put it in his pocket.

"Bye." he smiled that shy smile that she loved and headed out the guild doors.

"Oh my goooooodddd!" Shio heard to see Mira jumping up and down in excitement, her voice a higher pitch than Shio had ever heard before. "About time he asked you out. He's had a crush on you for months!" Mira hushed her to stop her from speaking. "And don't you even _try_ to tell me that you are infatuated with him."

Shio pursed her lips, but shrugged nonchalantly. "I wasn't going too. I know you are way too perceptive to have missed that fact."

"I'm so happy for you. I think he really needs a girl in his life. He needs someone he can open up to. He's a really nice guy, Shio. You couldn't have done better." Mira beamed at her, her little ponytail flopping to one side. "You can have the day off if you like, so you can get ready."

"Thanks, but we haven't even been on a date yet so I haven't done anything yet. Here's to hoping I get through that without tearing my hair out in fear. I'll probably spend the whole day freaking out and he'll end up getting to my place and I won't even be ready. I'll have to come in for a few hours or I'll work myself up too much."

Mira laughed and told her that she could do whatever she liked on her big day. After they finished packing up, they went through their usual sparring routine, and Shio discovered she was improving at her air slicing technique, but just very slowly. She was probably too impatient for her own good.

It seemed that things were looking up for the wolf girl...but how long would her luck last?


	8. Strength of Character

**Chapter 8 – Strength of Character**

"Lucy, how much longer? I'm so hungry." Shio groaned, and Faelan rolled his eyes at his companion's whining, though he hid his amused smirk well.

"Not too long at all." Lucy smiled at her friend and looked back out the window to see Hargeon coming into view. "There it is!"

"Wow! It's beautiful!" Shio was mesmerised as the fishing town came into view.

Hargeon was an old port town, and she could see the huge expanse of blue ocean out the window. Shio squished her entire face against the window so she could see. Lucy laughed at her friend, and was glad that she seemed to be feeling okay. She knew that Shio had been a bit hard on herself lately, and she wanted her to take it easy and try and enjoy themselves a little bit on this mission.

"It's so pretty! I've never seen the ocean before." Shio wiggled her nose after she peeled her face off the glass as they pulled into the train station.

"Let's go get everything ready for tonight." Lucy suggested and they disembarked the train, Faelan falling into step next to them.

The busty blonde had a small bag with two dresses in it that she would decide between wearing later on in the night and a few different things for Shio to try on as well. They had agreed that she was going to act as if she was a normal party attendant and keep an eye and ear out for any possible trouble amongst the guests. She still remembered how to act around high-society so Shio was going to stand at the entrance when everyone arrived and handed in their invitations.

Recently, she had been learning how strong her sense of smell was when she tuned into Faelan's abilities. It allowed her smell a lot of things including if someone was carrying something they shouldn't, such as explosives, which would be very bad if they were brought into a formal event. Faelan would be keeping watch from outside in the cover of darkness to ensure no one could see him, that way he would be able to subdue any suspicious people lurking outside the party, or notify them of anything strange. Shio would be able to see everything he saw if she needed to as well, which would be handy.

Neither Lucy nor Shio was too worried since only about 10% in Hargeon could use magic, as they mostly ran the town off of the large fishing industry that was natural for a port town to have. Still, it was better to be safe than sorry and Lucy was definitely aware that just because everything seemed normal and safe, didn't mean that it was. She had been in way too many situations like that to feel safe on any missions, no matter how simple. Unexpected things had happened before, things completely unrelated to the mission she had been on, so she never let her guard down.

They walked to the outskirts of the city, to the large mansion which the party would be held in and went inside the entry hall, after going down the huge driveway which had a large waterfall at the end right in front of the house. When they went inside, there was waiters and chefs talking together, and people hurriedly setting up all the tables, chairs, stage for the music and the bar area. It had huge high ceilings with two large staircases leading to what Shio presumed led to the rest of the house.

"So, I think we should find Mr. Donfield and then memorise the layout of the mansion and grounds as best we can." Shio supplied.

At the same time as Lucy nodded her agreement, a man called out to them from the top of the stairs, "Are you the Fairy Tail mages?" he practically waddled down the huge staircase to the left, wearing a white suited that looked like it was cutting into his skin at the neck. He was a rather rotund gentleman, but spoke very formally to them both, and Shio was surprised at how respectful he was. It wasn't uncommon for people as rich as he clearly was to condescend ordinary folk, mages especially. Wizard guilds weren't always held in high regard.

"Good afternoon Mr. Donfield. I am Akashio, and this is Lucy. My wolf companion is Faelan." The middle-aged man stared wide-eyed at the furry creature and practically jumped out of his skin when Faelan spoke.

"I am perfectly civilised and domesticated, I assure you." Faelan bowed his head, and Shio could feel his attempt to hide his laughter from their employer through their link.

"Ah, yes. Thank you for coming." he was wringing his hands together, in what Shio assumed to be a nervous gesture. He was spending quite a lot for them to be there, so she hoped that he would tell them everything. "I am not entirely sure how you are going to approach your job for the evening. In truth, the reason I sent the request to the Fairy Tail guild is because of your team mate Salamander, who destroyed our marina and I recalled the name. I presumed that a guild with such a strong member could work security. Tell me, how do you plan to secure everything for the evening?" Mr. Donfield spoke and Shio watched him closely, making sure that he was telling them the whole truth. Faelan kept a close eye too, ensuring that if Shio missed something, he would not.

"I'm going to stay at the entrance while your guests are arriving and inspect them on entry. I will only need to be a few feet from them to be able to tell if something is not right, and if I suspect foul-play, I will hand them over to your other security for interrogation. Faelan will be staying outside in the darkness to watch as people arrive and leave, as well as check the perimeter frequently for any lurkers. Lucy will be dressed and acting as a normal party guest, and she will update you on anything through the evening and blend in as best she can." Shio was incredibly professional and had a blank expression. Lucy watched her friend and was impressed with how much confidence Shio had developed recently.

"I see. That sounds like a good idea. Shall I have someone show you around the house and the grounds?" Shio nodded in response and Mr. Donfield gestured to a man in a suit nearby to come over to them. "This is my head of security, Viro Redwyn. You will be working closely together this evening. He will show you around the grounds and answer any questions you may have. If you will excuse me, I have a lot to do."

He turned to walk away, and started to wring his hands again, with a small frown on his face. Shio was concerned that he wasn't telling them the whole story. She knew that it was probably very important for this evening to go well for him, but she just felt like something wasn't right. In her mind, she could feel Faelan's agreement and she quickly glanced at Lucy, who seemed to be on the same page.

"Mr. Donfield..." Shio waited for him to turn around, and raised an eyebrow at him. "Is there anything else you need to tell us about, regarding any security issues you are expecting? If there is more going on than you are telling us, then we will request an extra fee for hazards known to the employer which is 40% of the reward offered." She had no idea if that was even a legitimate thing, but she just felt that she needed to push for some information. If something happened and they ended up with more money, then that was fine too.

"Ah, I am merely worried that my drunkard cousin Johann, will show up and make a mess. He has a habit of running our family name through the mud, and I have not invited him for this reason. Viro knows who he is and will remove him from the premises if he is seen. I will leave you in his hands." Mr. Donfield went back on his way, and Shio felt a little more satisfied, but hoped that he was being fully honest.

If his drunkard cousin happened to be all he was so worried about, then he must make quite a fuss. Shio made eye contact with Lucy who shrugged in response and Shio accepted that as her acquiesce on the matter. Faelan was looking behind them and Shio knew he would watch their backs while they were here. He could do it easily with his heightened senses and lack of facial expressions which hid his intentions a lot more. His dark fur would allow him to disappear into the shadows with no trouble as well.

 _Keep a sharp eye,_ she directed her thought toward him, and he grunted his response.

"This way please. I'll show you around the house and then the grounds outside." Viro gestured for them to follow him. He showed them the kitchen area behind the stairs where there was plenty of people grilling, frying, sautéing a lot of different food that was unfamiliar to Shio, being a country girl of very simple tastes. Her tastes had expanded since coming to Magnolia though.

There was an outstandingly beautiful bathroom, with marbled floors and sinks that didn't even have taps. Shio checked both the female and male toilets to ensure they were both secure. Lucy flushed a little when Shio walked into the male toilet with purpose, while Viro watched quietly with his brow knit together. Faelan just sat outside and kept a look out behind them, paying attention to the people coming in, setting up, trying to see who they were and take note of any smells that stood out or were unique.

As they went through the rest of the house, Shio made sure that she paid attention to everything around them. Lucy and Faelan did the same. It was a big property and it took them around an hour to see everything, ensuring that they absorbed as much about the layout as they went. It was about time for them to get changed and ready to start their security job for the night once they had finished their tour.

Viro showed them to a guestroom that had an en-suite so that they could shower and use the mirror. When they were behind closed doors, Shio's face finally changed from her serious one to one that she showed her friends.

"This place is so huge!" Shio looked in the cupboards as Lucy took a quick shower and freshened up. This room was bigger than her whole house from the village and at least a bit bigger than her apartment in Fairy Hills.

"It all looks incredibly expensive." Faelan stepped carefully, not walking on the rug that looked to be around 100 years old. Shio could sense his thoughts about how strange he felt in this mansion.

"All done Shio. You can go in." Lucy had her towel wrapped around her and Shio watched her walk over to her bag, getting out her things.

Once Shio had showered and tidied up, Lucy helped Shio put some make-up on. Just enough to bring out the colour in her eyes, but not enough to make her look like she had applied her make up in the dark. They fixed their hair then got dressed, Lucy in a full length sky blue gown that hugged her curves and fell softly to her feet, and Shio wore a black dress that had a high neck line, with a small tie at her waist, giving her a shapely figure, and there was a split up her right leg to her thigh.

"You look great Lucy! Natsu would drop dead if he saw you right now." Shio replied in kind, smiling at her blonde friend.

"Thanks. You too! Gray would throw caution to the wind and ravish you, if he saw you right now!" Lucy complimented her friend with a melodic voice and a cheeky wink.

Both women giggled happily, until Shio sobered and frowned. Lucy watched her with a questioning expression until she finally got the courage to speak.

"Gray asked me to dinner when we get back." her tone was serious, and Lucy raised an eyebrow at her.

"It sounds like a bad thing when you say it that way. I thought you liked him." Lucy was utterly confused.

"I made a vow to myself not to let myself get distracted by anything or anyone until I felt like I was strong enough to be of worth to you all in Fairy Tail. I already agreed to go, because I got excited, but now I feel like I might be getting in too deep too quick. I still haven't achieved my goal and if I don't do it now, I'm worried I never will. I don't want to get complacent because everyone else can protect me." Shio bit her lip in frustration and stared at her feet as she did up her sandals. Since her dress was impractical, she refused to wear heels and make it worse.

Lucy smiled at her. She understood the reasoning behind Shio's motivation to become stronger, but the blonde worried whether she was expecting too much of herself and would never be happy, no matter how strong she got. Lucy felt the same for a long time before Natsu said that she didn't need to be as strong as he was, because then he wouldn't need to protect her, and that he liked being able to protect her. She understood Natsu's motivation was to look after her because he cared for her. Shio felt the same. She wanted to protect the people who had taken her in without hesitation when she had nowhere else to go.

"If you get too strong, the people who care for you won't be able to protect you. I understand your motivation, but you can't let your fear of not achieving your goals stop you from doing things that might make you happy. Don't shy away from Gray because you like each other and that will distract you. Let that bond make you stronger." Lucy grinned and her brown eyes shone with a beautiful strength and intelligence that made her a great match for someone like Natsu.

Shio watched her with quiet intensity before she spoke, her voice in awe. "You certainly aren't just a pretty face with lots of spirit friends." She was silent again, and stared into space as she was deep in thought. "Thank you, Lucy. I cannot tell you how much I value your friendship."

"You're welcome Shio. I'm glad to have you in Fairy Tail."

They hugged tightly, and Shio laughed at how much taller Lucy was with her heels on, since she was normally an inch or two taller than the black-haired girl. Lucy's faith in Shio made the Kisan-Aralyn feel a lot better. She was glad to know that she had the support of her Fairy Tail family, no matter the situation.

Shio pulled back first and opened the door. Faelan went out first and the girls followed after him, making their way back to the ballroom at the front of the mansion. Viro met them halfway down the hall and led them to their positions. Lucy would be mostly behind the scenes until there were more party guests so she didn't stand out too much, and as organised Faelan headed outside and Shio stood at the front door.

Her black hair was growing, and now it fell over her shoulders as she stood next to the man who was taking the invitations. After he took the invitation, she instructed him to inspect it for long enough so that she could quickly assess any possible threat from the guests. When she was satisfied, she would tell them to head in and enjoy the party.

When the first guest arrived, she was nervous but Faelan's voice in her mind helped to calm her down before she freaked out. Since it was getting dark, Faelan could sit almost directly at the entrance where the guests were arriving and he continued to relay messages about anything that stood out or something he wanted her to take a note of. There was a few restrained chuckles when he would point out someone's funny outfit, or how big someone's nose or butt was.

After around half an hour, Lucy began mingling since there was enough people there to allow her to blend in. They communicated through a small earpiece that was hidden by Shio's hair, and it allowed Lucy to listen in on anything suspicious that Shio or Faelan may have seen. There was just plenty of people drinking, eating and making conversation for the moment, so everything was going smoothly.

Nothing seemed to be too out of place until Faelan spoke about a disturbance outside. He told her that he could hear Viro talking to a man about not being invited and that he would have to leave the premises and was not able to return until he made an appointment with Mr. Donfield. Shio looked through Faelan's eyes so she could see what was going on, and listened through his eyes so he could hear the commotion.

There seemed to be a very drunk man trying to make his way inside, but Viro was blocking his path. Faelan watched quietly from the shadows, waiting to see what would happen. Shio thought she could sense something strange from the drunkard, who she presumed that was Mr. Donfield's cousin that he mentioned. She was having a hard time putting her finger on it, but remembered the time when she was returning from her village with Gray when they got attacked. She recalled feeling no magical power from the man, but felt something else from the drunk cousin.

 _Faelan, he has magical abilities. Take him down, now!_ He immediately launched himself from his hiding place and leapt upon the man, knocking him to the ground with the wolf's immense weight from his muscular form. The drunk man was shocked as Faelan growled in his face, daring him to try and move, to try and contest with him.

 _Well done. Viro will deal with him from here._ Shio congratulated her companion and she felt his small boost of joy through their link. Next thing to do would be to inform Lucy, just so she was updated and knew what was going on for the moment. She turned to the side, so none of the guests would see the earpiece.

"Lucy. Faelan has just subdued the drunk cousin Mr. Donfield was so worried about." she spoke quietly, and heard Lucy's tinny sounding voice in reply.

"That's good. Glad you guys sorted him out before he got inside." Shio could hear that Lucy was pleased, and smiled for a moment before another guest arrived and handed in their invitation.

She gestured for the middle-aged couple to enter after she quickly smelt them and quickly looked them up and down subtly. After they had walked in, Shio heard in her mind a grunt and some loud voices, then felt a pain all over the front of her body and doubled over. It almost knocked the wind out of her, and the man who was taking the invitations asked if she was alright. She didn't hear him, because she realised abruptly that it was Faelan's pain she was feeling, not her own.

"Lucy. Something's wrong with Faelan. I'm going out to investigate." Shio growled low in her chest, but pushed through the pain as she went outside as fast as she could, hoping the find out what the hell just happened.

She could see Faelan on his side and hear his whimpers. Instantly, she partially transformed, ready for battle. She ran over to Faelan and she was worried when he didn't talk to her straight away. After a moment of checking him for injuries, he managed to choke out that he was okay, and just had the wind knocked out of him. He also told her that it was the drunk cousin who she suspected of having magical power who attacked him.

"I'll have his head." She hissed with venom in her voice, her animal instincts taking over and forcing her anger to bubble over. Her best friend was hurt, and she would repay the attacker in kind. "You were supposed to get rid of him!" she yelled at Viro who was standing nearby, radioing his men that were around the property. He went to speak but she turned away, not really caring what his bullshit excuse was at this point.

She stood up with purpose, leaving Faelan to get his breath back and used the scent that the wolf got from the man when he had pinned him on the ground to track him. It seemed that he was going around the back of the mansion. Unfortunately, since it was so big, he wasn't near the back door yet, and Shio knew that she could beat him by going straight through the mansion.

With an impressive air of nonchalance, she walked straight through the party and through the door that led to the rest of the house. Once through the ballroom and away from the prying eyes of the guests, she updated Lucy on the situation as she ran to the back of the large house as fast as she could, now glad that she hadn't worn heels.

Once the back door was in sight, the scent of the man got a lot stronger, telling her that he was close by. Anger swirled in her, and she knew she would go overboard and do some serious damage if she didn't get herself under control. Johann got to the door before she did, and when he opened it, she leapt on him, just as Faelan did.

Though he was very intoxicated, he was more nimble than she expected and flipped her straight over the top, using her momentum against her. Luckily for her, her transformed hands had large claws which she dug into him as soon as she made contact, and his shoulders got torn to shreds once she went flying off him. Shio landed on her feet and Johann crumpled, groaning in pain and the large gashes began to seep blood, staining his tuxedo.

"You hurt my friend. That was payback. Now, I will take you into custody. Come quietly if you know what's good for you. I may just aim for your throat the second time." Shio snarled and swiped at the air to show what would indicate if he decided not to come quietly. She was still angry, but darkly satisfied at the blood all over his suit and his pained expression.

Viro came running around the back with a bunch of his men just in time and put restraints on Johann. Once Shio was happy that he wasn't going anywhere, or not without a damn good fight, one that she would definitely hear, she went back to Faelan who seemed fine, but was still a little shaken. She told Lucy through the earpiece that everything was sorted before she looked back at her furry friend. She could still feel a bit of pain from him, and she crouched down to pat him, giving him a good scratch behind the ears. She sensed that it made him feel better and smiled.

"I'm sorry you got hurt." Shio apologised, her smile now gone, replaced with an expression half-way between a scowl and a frown. "I got him back for you."

"Part of the job, my friend." he smiled at her, but Shio just stared back, still looking upset. "I'm alright. I promise. You go back inside so we can finish this job and head home." he nudged her with his wet nose, and licked her hand tasting the blood on it. "Maybe wash your hands before anyone sees you though." Shio looked down and saw that they had blood on them, and nodded before making her way to the bathroom without anyone noticing anything was wrong.

Lucy pounced on her while she ran the water over her hands, the water slowly losing it's red tinge.

"Are you guys okay? I kept an eye out in here in case that was a distraction, but nothing happened." Her voice was filled with worry and there was concern in her eyes.

"Yeah, Johann attacked Faelan but he's okay. I got him back, hence why I'm washing my hands." Shio summarised quickly, trying to get the red off her fingernails, but it seemed to not want to come off.

"Shit, what did you do?" Lucy stared into the sink and could see the stained blood.

"I just sunk my claws into him. He'll be fine. You go back outside, we've only got a few more hours and then we can go home." Shio nodded to Lucy, indicating that she was okay, and she went back out to the party, if a little reluctantly.

Once Shio gave up on trying to get the rest of the red stains off her fingernails, she went back out and straight back to her post. The man there was glad to see her, and told her that all the guests had arrived now, the couple she let in earlier were the last to arrive, so they could shut the doors, and leave their post.

She nodded in response, and simply walked around for the rest of the evening, occasionally talking to Lucy and Faelan and making sure everything was in order. Nothing went wrong, and everyone seemed to be having a good time. The mission was a success, and they were all really happy when the guests began to go home for the night. That meant they could leave too.

When everyone had left, the girls got changed back into their normal clothes, ready to get on the last train for the night that went to Magnolia. They headed back out to the ballroom, where the clean up was happening. There was stacks of plates going everywhere, and large piles of glasses too and they stopped and started to avoid running into anyone.

Mr. Donfield appeared from the kitchens and Shio immediately remembered her 'extra 40%' threat from earlier, and that it was technically applied to this situation since he didn't tell them that Johann was a mage, albeit not a very good one, but just good enough to get a hit on Faelan. He had a large bag with him, and she watched him curiously as he approached them.

"Thank you for your hard work tonight. I heard about Johann showing up, and I've put in the extra 40% for you. You definitely deserve it. There is also some leftovers for the trip back." He turned to look down at Faelan. "There is some sausage links for you too." he bowed graciously and handed Shio the bag, who acted casually like she wasn't just about to yell at him about the fact that Johann turned out to be a mage. He was clearly acknowledging his error and she respected him for that.

"We appreciate your professionalism, Mr. Donfield. I would be happy to work for you any time." Shio, Lucy and Faelan all bowed their heads.

"I will remember your names for the future. Thank you again." The round man toddled off somewhere in his house and Viro saw them out, and he also thanked them for their help.

They walked to the train station, and there wasn't many people around since it was so late at night. The last train left just before midnight, and they hopped on after purchasing their tickets. Faelan and Shio stayed awake, but Lucy dozed lightly until they arrived back in Magnolia. It was very late, but they weren't worried about their safety. It wouldn't be a smart idea to mess with the two girls and the large wolf, and no one bothered them on the trip home. Once they arrived at the station in Magnolia, Shio insisted on walking Lucy home.

"Don't forget, I am never alone." she indicated to the furry creature strolling beside her. "It's better that we take you home, then we will head up to Fairy Hills." Shio said firmly, not planning on giving up. Lucy chuckled and nodded in response.

Once they arrived, Lucy spoke "Thank you. We can split the food and the money before you go if you like." She held the door open but Shio shook her head.

"It's alright. I'll come around for a while tomorrow, if that's alright. I'll need your help to get ready for dinner with Gray anyway." Her pale cheeks flushed a little and Lucy smiled at her shyness. "I am not accustomed to…these things...Dates."

"Tomorrow then." Lucy said and they bid each other goodnight. Faelan made sure to lick her hand in his own form of goodbye.

Shio strolled up to Fairy Hills taking her time, with Faelan trotting next to her. Though she was walking slowly, the cogs in her mind were spinning and moving against each other at an alarming rate. She was thinking about Gray, about their date tomorrow, and wondering what the hell she was supposed to do on a dinner date. They had been to lunch before, but that was less formal, and less organised. She hadn't really had time to get nervous over it.

This was definitely a date. He had asked her. She had agreed. There was no turning back now. She didn't want to lose the chance to do something that may make her happy, like Lucy said. She was just worried that she would do the wrong thing, or make a complete ass of herself, which she expected to happen. Though she felt like she should be concerned about what she should wear, or how she should do her hair or make-up, she knew felt that Gray would be happy whatever she looked like, as long as she was herself.

She finally reached her front door to find it ajar, which was very strange. She knew that she had locked it before she left, and no one in Magnolia would be stupid enough to break into Fairy Hills, especially since Erza occupied a large part of the building, and the whole city knew how truly terrifying she could be. If it was one of the other members of Fairy Tail, just hanging out there, or stealing some food – apparently not an uncommon thing for the men to do – they would have locked and shut the door behind them.

With a quick glance at Faelan, they were ready to fight immediately, and she used a partial transformation to prepare herself for a possible confrontation. Once inside, she did not see anything out of place, but she smelt the metallic tang of blood in the air, so much that she could almost taste it. Something was very wrong here.

She turned on a light so she could see where the smell was coming from, and found a bloodied and unconscious ice mage on the floor in her apartment.

 


	9. So Oblivious

**Chapter 9 – So Oblivious**

_She turned on a light so she could see where the smell was coming from, and found a bloodied and unconscious ice mage on the floor in her apartment._

"GRAY!" she screamed and her hands came over her mouth in shock, almost scratching herself in the process. "Get Wendy!" she told Faelan, who ran like mad up to the younger girls place so she could help.

Shio ran over to Gray, and knelt on the floor beside him, her hands floating over his body as she cried and muttered desperately for someone to help her. She could see his chest rise and fall with shallow breaths, but she knew that he was not okay. There was blood all over him, and she could see cuts on his body that were still seeping blood.

Wendy and Faelan came bounding in the room, and immediately she began telling Shio what to do, giving her some purpose instead of sobbing on the floor next to him.

"Grab some towels."

"Wet two of them. Place one on his forehead and clean his wounds with the other."

"Get some water for him to drink."

"Set up some pillows and blankets for him to rest on. On a bed is best."

Faelan watched with worry in his red eyes, sitting on the side, and helping Shio when necessary. Wendy was concentrating so hard that beads of sweat were running down her face, and parts of her long blue hair clung to her damp neck as her hands channelled healing magic into the injured man beneath her.

Shio was almost tearing her hair out and pacing while Wendy worked for the next two hours on him, her concentration never breaking, and she only spoke when absolutely necessary. Shio had just stopped crying in the last few minutes due to her being so dehydrated that she could not form tears any more. Her eyes were red, and sore and her head was pounding with the strength of a punch from Natsu as a result of her crying for so long.

Wendy finally took a deep, relieved breath. "He is stable. He will be alright. Now he just needs to rest." Wendy sat down fully, and drained the bottle of water Shio had put next to her hours ago.

"Wendy, just stay here for now. You need to rest too." Shio helped her to stand and led her into the living space and toward the lounge. The young girl all but collapsed and fell asleep straight away. Shio covered her with the blankets and thanked her quietly, then went over to Gray.

She had set up a comfortable spot on the bed for him, and used a bit of Faelan's strength to give her the ability to move him by herself. Gently as she could, she picked him up and laid him down, and covered him with the blankets so he would stay warm through the rest of the night. Though she had cleaned most of his wounds, there was still blood on his pants, which she kept on, and she could now see the bruises on his body.

Instead of finding somewhere to sleep, she was too exhausted to move and just flopped down on the bed next to him. This would mean she was right there if he woke up, and could get Wendy straight away if she was needed. She wanted to be there when he woke up.

Shio fell into a broken and fitful sleep…

Shio awoke to the feeling of something grabbing at her hand. Once she was aware that she did need to open her eyes, she realised who would probably be touching her hand. Faelan had gone to his realm to rest, so she knew it wasn't him. She shot up, sitting up dead straight and turned to Gray, whose eyes were open and looking back at her.

The ice mage had been unconscious for another full day since she had found him, and Wendy had done another healing session before she had left to go back to her place and rest some more. Shio had promised the young Dragon Slayer that she would repay her and that she was incredibly appreciative, and she knew that Gray would be too. Wendy had only waved humbly and told her that it was her pleasure, being able to help out a friend.

Gray inhaled as if he was going to speak, but she shushed him before he could start. "Don't…don't talk. You need to rest. I'll get you some water." She went to get up from the bed, but he did not let go of her hand.

"Stay." He choked out, his voice raspy from not using it, and from the dryness of his mouth and throat.

Her heart melted for him in that moment and she knew that she couldn't leave him when he asked her to stay with such a weak voice. She had tossed and turned all night, and checked that he was still breathing every single time she woke up and she had been hovering over him all yesterday too. Her eyes were sore and bloodshot, her head still ached and she knew that they both needed water. The only time she had left her spot beside him on the bed was to use the toilet, and she was fairly certain that she had left half a sandwich in the kitchen and an open bottle of water. She had been too worried to remember to look after herself, and it probably showed.

"I need to get us some water. _Both_ of us." She emphasised that she was talking about both of them and he reluctantly let her go with a tiny nod.

She returned momentarily with four bottles, two for each of them. Once she sat on the bed next to him, she gently lifted his head so he could drink. He grimaced at first, the water stinging his throat but once the pain had gone, he drained half the bottle before he pulled back. She drained the other half and struggled to keep her eyes open. Though Gray was still in a bit of pain and beyond exhausted, he could tell that she had practically driven herself mad by worrying about him and was probably just as worn out as he was.

"Shio." Her head snapped toward him, and he saw the darkness under her eyes, and how dull her eyes were, the normal deep-red had faded to a dark grey. "I'm alright, you know. There's no need for you to cry." He tried to smile, but her eyes became glassy.

"I'm not crying." she held his gaze as best she could, as she knitted her brow together in a frown as she turned to face the wall so he could only see her profile.

"You were. I could hear you. I just couldn't tell you that I would be okay. I didn't have the strength." his voice was still strained.

"I came in and found you unconscious in a pool of your own blood." She turned her head away so he couldn't see her face, and heard her sniffle. "I…I thought…you were…going to die." She whispered 'die', afraid that if she said it too loud, it might just be true and this would all be a dream.

"How long was I out?"

"I got back here about 1 o'clock in the morning from my mission on Friday. Its Sunday now." she bit her lip, but continued. "I thought you weren't going to wake up."

"When I first met you, you were practically dead on a table in the guild hall. Master asked me to freeze your body so you would not deteriorate any more. The dark magic was making you worse. I felt your broken ribs underneath my hands, I felt the cuts and burns on your skin. I watched for a month to see if you would survive." He spoke quietly, not able to use his voice properly just yet.

"You didn't even know who I was." Shio replied just as quietly, not entirely sure how respond to his admission.

"No. I didn't. But I still watched you, and kept an eye on you the whole time. I felt _something_ when I touched you for the first time. I was really happy when you woke up, though you were so distraught." Gray smiled, remembering when he saw her opening her eyes, but could still hear how heart-wrenching her cries were in his mind.

"You were there the whole time?" she asked him, her tone showing her surprise.

"Mmhmm." he nodded slightly again, being careful not to move too much, since he knew it would hurt.

"Why didn't you go to Wendy's?" Shio asked, after a moment of reverie as she thought about his saying that he felt something when he touched her when they first met.

"I tried. I knew I didn't have the strength, so I just passed out here, hoping that you would get the last train back to Magnolia and could get Wendy to help once you got back here." he gave her a shrug, and she nodded and went quiet again, looking at her feet.

After he remembered what they were supposed to have done yesterday, he tried to lighten the mood a little bit. A mischievous smirk came across his face, the split in his lip stinging a little.

"So I think we will have to postpone our date."

When her eyes went wide and her gaze fell on him, she saw from his smirk that he was just teasing her and the black-haired woman huffed in amusement before a smile appeared on her face. She shook her head at him, wondering why he would make a joke.

"Don't joke about that. I've been so worried." She rubbed her eyes and the rest of her face, to try and wake herself up a little, but it didn't help much.

"I can tell. You haven't slept or eaten anything, have you?" his tone was scolding, but in a caring way.

She shook her head, and he grabbed her hand again, gently pulling on it so she would fully face him. She moved her left leg and curled it up on the bed so she could sit closer to him. Even though she felt shy, she held his gaze as best she could. He seemed to be looking for something while he stared at her, and she wasn't quite sure what it was, or what it meant for them. They had already gone past the point of realising that they both liked each other, so Shio wasn't sure where they would go from here. Here was a point she had never reached before. It was a point that confused, but excited her. Finally, he smiled and she felt less embarrassed.

"You're blushing." He chuckled at her, and broke out in full laughter when she went red as Erza's hair.

"I am not!" she shrieked loudly and scuttled away to the kitchen, where she threw away the half-eaten sandwich and decided she should make something to eat for them.

He laughed for a moment before he raised his voice loud enough for her to hear him from the kitchen. "Can you help me up Shio? I'd like to use your bathroom, if you don't mind."

Shio came in and helped Gray stand up so he could make his way to the bathroom. She listened carefully at the door after he went in for any signs of him falling over and cracking open his skull. She knew he was tough, but he was still in fairly bad shape and she didn't want him to make it worse by slipping over in the shower.

There was some familiar smells in the air, and Shio smiled as she recognised who it was as they got closer and they entered the Fairy Hills building. She could hear one of the people from inside her apartment and chuckled at the antics. Certain that Gray could hear them too, she went back to the bedroom to let him know they were about to have some visitors. Definitely the boisterous kind of visitors.

"We are about to have some company, just so you know." She said loud enough for him to hear in the bathroom and went back out of the bedroom just as quickly as she went in, heading towards the front door. She opened it as they were coming in and greeted them happily. "Hey everyone. Come in."

Lucy and Erza casually strolled in behind Natsu, who ran in and looked straight in the cupboards for food, and Happy fluttered along beside him. Lucy sighed and shook her head at him, and Erza told him off for trying to take Shio's food. Lucy was carrying a bag with the leftovers that Mr. Donfield had given them and placed it in her fridge, and also put her half of the reward money on the kitchen counter, quickly bringing it to Shio's attention so she didn't forget about it.

"Mira is bringing some leftovers from the hall for you. She'll be here soon." Erza told Shio, and noticed how exhausted she looked, seeing her bloodshot eyes, with dark circles underneath. Lucy saw it as well, and put an arm over the shorter woman's shoulders to comfort her.

"How is he doing?" the blonde asked, hearing from Wendy about what happened, who suggested they go over and visit.

"He's freshening up now. He seems to be okay now. I found him when I got home from our mission, and he's been out cold since then…I was pretty freaked out." Lucy and Erza nodded in understanding.

"GRRRAAAYYY!"Natsu bellowed as loudly as he possibly could and bolted into the bedroom. "Hurry up and get better so we can fight!"

All three woman standing next to the kitchen counter sighed simultaneously, and Erza walked into the room to deal with the Fire Dragon Slayer, who kept yelling and pestering the injured ice mage from behind the bathroom door. Shio knew that she had no food to offer them, but she boiled the kettle and made some tea for them. Erza finally calmed Natsu down, and he sat down on the couch next to Lucy as a large lump formed on his head from the redhead's fist, and Erza sat on the single seater and nonchalantly poured herself some tea after Shio brought over some cups.

"Shio. Could you come here for a moment?" Gray said just loud enough for her to hear and she went to the bedroom.

Once she walked in, she immediately brought her hands over her eyes and her face felt so hot that she thought her skin might melt off her skull. "Shit, Gray! Clothes!" Shio yelled at him with a shocked voice, not really expecting to see a completely naked man in her bedroom at that moment.

"Oops." He said very casually, since being scantily clad at random times was fairly normal for him, and Shio went even redder. She heard him struggle not to crack up laughing at her. Though most of the guild was used to him walking around half-naked or fully-naked, it was still quite a surprise for her. He was the only man she had ever seen naked, and while she wasn't going to complain about the view, she would complain about him laughing at her. She had seen men from her village with no shirts on, but nothing below the belt.

"You just did that to embarrass me!" Her voice was high-pitched, showing her embarrassment, and he just kept laughing. She wanted to throw something at him, but that would mean uncovering her eyes to grab something, which wasn't an option.

"I don't have any clothes, the pants I had on are wrecked. Do you have anything for me to wear?" Though he was telling the truth, it was just a little _too_ convenient.

"You could have covered yourself with your towel." She was still red as a tomato and sighed at his restrained laughter.

"Fine, fine. I'm covered now."

Not sure that she trusted him, she made a tiny space between her fingers to make sure he actually was covered, and she removed her hands when she was satisfied that he had wrapped the towel around himself. It still didn't cover the rippling muscles that threatened to catch her eye though. She did stare at him, but looked at the bruises, cuts and grazes and frowned at his marred skin.

After she realised that she was sufficiently distracted, she turned to her drawers where she hoped – though part of her hoped not - would have some pyjamas that would suffice for the moment. She had a feeling that if he had it his way, he just wouldn't wear anything at all and would walk around smirking proudly when he caught her checking him out. There was a pair of long pants that would fit him, and she had an oversized shirt – with a wolf on it, funnily enough – and she grabbed them both and handed them to him.

"Thank you." He said with a tone that spoke volumes about how grateful he was for her help, and not just for the clothes, as he took them from her and smiled faintly.

"I'm just glad you're okay. I was worried." She admitted with a shy smile and a flush of her cheeks.

"No need to worry. I'm tough." He grinned at her and she rolled her eyes in reply. His grin faded a little bit, and he continued to speak, his swagger gone, replaced with apprehension. "Besides, we had a date. I wasn't going to miss that." He scratched the back of his head and laughed awkwardly.

"We kind of already missed it. It was yesterday." Shio chuckled and looked at her feet.

"Could we…uh…reschedule?" His anxiousness showed in his voice, though he tried to hide it and Shio was still too scared to make eye contact with him.

She nodded and chewed her lip, but didn't take her eyes off her feet as she shifted her weight nervously. Lucy's words before had given her confidence, but not as much as he had. She was way too terrified to ask if they were going to go to dinner another time, once he had recovered.

At some stage throughout their conversation, Happy had flown into the doorway to check on them, decided it was a great time for him to put on his two cents and began to sing. "Gray and Shio sitting in a tree!"

Shio yelped and grabbed the nearest thing to throw at him, which happened to be a pillow. He dodged it, and Shio chased after the Exceed who flew just out of her reach. Shio used a slight transformation, giving her an advantage, so she could jump high enough to grasp onto him and she yanked him down into her arms as he continued laughing.

"Got you now, cat!" Shio snarled at him, and flashed some claws to frighten him, but tickled him instead. As much as he annoyed her with his occasional smart-ass comments, she did love him and didn't actually want to hurt him. After a moment, she let him go to flutter back to Natsu and headed into the kitchen.

Gray came out of the bedroom, now dressed in her clothes and sat down on the lounge, with a grimace as he lowered himself down. The conversation between the guests stopped and they greeted him happily, except for Natsu who just sulked, upset about getting told off earlier by Erza.

"What happened Gray? Not just anyone could do that much damage to you." Erza questioned, wanting to know who she needed to beat up.

"Dark guild attacked the train I was on. I still haven't completed my mission yet since I didn't actually get there. I'll have to get someone from the guild to do it for me so it's done on time." he grumbled a little, not happy about losing the pay, but he knew that he was in no shape to do the mission himself.

"I can do it, if you like. I'll split the money with you too. I think you deserve it." Erza offered, always a generous woman, when she wasn't angry. "Do you remember the guild mark, or any specific things about the members?"

"Well, I know that I was holding my own perfectly fine against them until one of them showed up. He was probably their leader. Middle-aged, with orange hair and scars down the side of his face. I can't remember much after that, but I remember seeing their guild mark. It looked like a kraken." he told them with a frown, struggling to recall more details.

The sound of a plate smashing drew their attention toward Shio, who slowly turned toward them. She was white and a sheet and breathing rapidly with the remains of a crushed plate in her small hands. "A...a kraken?"

Gray nodded his confirmation, wondering what the hell was wrong. Shio started to shake and she dropped the rest of the plate on the floor. Lucy stood up to start cleaning it up, since she could tell that something was wrong. Shio's hands went to the side of her head, her jaw dropped and her eyes were wide as saucers. She knew that symbol, she had dreamt about it. Or had nightmares about it.

In her fevered month at Porlysucia's house, she had consistent hallucinations, dreams and nightmares regarding people branded with the mark of the kraken. She didn't know what guild it was at the time, and she wasn't sure she wanted to find out so she hadn't looked into it. But now, she had had enough. She could feel a furious rage building in her gut and knew that this would not end well for the dark guild who destroyed her life, her village and almost killed someone she really cared about.

They had done enough damage, and it was time that she gave them what they deserved.

"Shio!" Gray put his hands over hers that were still clinging to her head, and she snapped out of it, looking at him. His tone was disturbed and he was confused at her sudden anguish.

He could see how bright red her eyes were, and he knew that she was feeling something pretty strong. By the looks of her starting to transform in the middle of her kitchen, he guessed she was angry. Really angry.

"What's wrong?" He talked quietly, but his tone showed his concern. He wasn't strong enough to pull her hands away from her head with her transformation slowly occuring, and he was worried that if her claws formed that she was going to tear chunks out of herself.

Before her eyes, she could see memories of the dark guild that attacked her village. It must have been the same one. Most guilds tended to have a fairly original mark, and she could recognise that one quite easily. Rage filled her and she wasn't sure how to react. Her animal instincts were screaming at her to tear people apart, but Gray's cool disposition helped to keep that side of her under control. His large hands still covered hers that clung tightly to the sides of her head, and she stared into his eyes.

"Your village?" he asked in a whisper, not wanting to upset her more than she already was.

She hesitated for a second, but nodded and swallowed thickly. Her hands were still shaking with the force of her emotions all coiling up inside her at once. His cool hands felt like the only thing that was keeping her sane, and she concentrated on the feeling. He pulled her into his arms and she finally began wracking with quiet sobs. Her head wrested on his toned pectorals and she cried into the shirt she gave him, her tears leaving dark marks on the material. His grip never loosened for the few minutes it took her to calm down, and when she did she remembered that her other friends were there as well. They were all standing around her and Gray, ready to offer their moral support and she was so happy to have her Fairy Tail family.

This dark guild had messed with her blood-relatives and taken them away from her as well as everyone else she had known and cared for in her village. Now they were messing with the family who took her in, regardless of who she was, or how weak she was at the time, and sacrificed so much of their own money to give her somewhere to live. She had been offered a full wardrobe of clothes from Erza, Lucy, Mira and Cana had given her some of her nicest skimpy tops that hadn't been pulled out of the drawer yet. Mira always made sure that there was some leftovers from the bar for her, and Levy would occasionally bring down some extra meals for her that she hadn't eaten.

She decided that she would destroy them. She would destroy them all for what they had done. She had promised herself not to use her magical power for the sake of being able to hurt someone else, but she had promised to become strong enough to protect those she cared about. This guild had done damage to her and those around her _twice_ , and that was more than enough for her to lose her temper.

As Gray continued to embrace her, she could see the discolouration of his skin due to bruising and it reinforced the strength of her new found purpose. It also made her more angry. She would become strong enough to take them all down, and if they wanted Gray, Natsu, Lucy, Happy and Erza could come along. Wendy and Charles too.

She pulled back from Gray's grip, but he kept hold of one of her hands, still feeling it shake. "I'm sorry. I wasn't sure what it meant at the time it all happened because we weren't exposed to mages and mage guilds in my village. The people who attacked my village all had the same mark. It was a black kraken. Gray's description jogged my memory. I remember seeing that man in my village when we got attacked."

"Mystogan would probably know who they are. He does a lot of work disposing of dark guilds. But talking to him is difficult. I'm not sure where he is currently either." Erza put her hand on her chin and stared at the floor, deep in thought.

"Why don't we ask Levy to look into it? I'm sure she could find something out about them, like their guild name and maybe where they are based." Lucy offered with a shrug, not sure how else they could find out other than by word of mouth from someone who knew about the guild.

There was such a large amount of both legal and illegal guilds in Fiore that it would be impossible to know all of them. Some guilds may only just be for the companionship and not so much about doing missions, so not all of them would have a lot of fame or be well known for the strength of their members or their guild as a whole. Most dark guilds had a few different factions, or just operated anywhere and everywhere they could, being nomadic in their movements to ensure that they didn't get caught by the council, or any other guild they pissed off.

"I'll ask her about it tomorrow." Gray answered for Shio's sake, who was still struggling to calm down. She guessed that he could feel how fast her heart was racing, and it hadn't slowed down any.

Faelan appeared, standing next to Shio and he was incredibly confused about the heavy atmosphere in the room. He felt Shio's turbulent anger and frustration immediately and figured out what was wrong by the thoughts and images flashing through her mind of the day her village was attacked. Though he wasn't there, by looking through her memories he could empathise with her, and not just because they shared a mental bond, but because it was a brutal thing to witness. As he saw the ice mage standing next to his companion, he looked a little further and replayed the story of his attack and understood why she was upset. He did also feel her resolve to destroy those responsible which seemed to be a part of her mind that was as hard as steel.

"Well, we will leave you guys be, but we are all glad you are okay, Gray. I'll leave tomorrow to finish your mission for you." Erza placed a hand on Gray's shoulder in a friendly gesture and he smiled at her in thanks.

"See ya, icey dork." Natsu grinned and put his hand out in a fist.

Gray bumped fists with him and grinned back. "See ya, flamey dork."

"Let us know if you need anything." Lucy smiled happily, and made sure that she directed her words at both Gray and Shio, who was still in considerable shock.

They both nodded, and Shio tried her best to smile, but it just made her look more upset. Happy gave her and Gray a pat on the head and said bye to them. Faelan just sat quietly on the floor next to Shio. Gray went to turn and look down at the woman next to him, but winced as a sore muscle pulled the wrong way. He groaned in pain and Shio sprung into action, ushering him back towards the bedroom so he could rest.

Before she made him lay back down, she checked his wounds to make sure he hadn't reopened anything, and when she was satisfied she made him get back into bed while they waited for Mira to arrive with something for them to eat. He didn't want to lay down any more, so he sat up with his back against the wall, with a pillow to make him more comfortable.

Just as Shio went back to the kitchen to make sure the plate she had crushed was all cleaned up, and thanked Lucy mentally for doing it for her so quickly and without hesitating. She was so happy to have her friends around her during her times of emotional turmoil, whether it was losing everyone she had ever known and loved, or her freaking out about a date with an ice mage.

A knock at the door and a quick scent check confirmed Mira was on the other side of the door, and she let her in with the happiest smile she could muster. Mira, who was so perceptive that it always surprised Shio, picked up that something was wrong straight away and quickly put down the bag of food and grabbed Shio's hands in hers.

"What happened? Is it just about Gray?" she asked with a concerned voice, her stunning blue orbs staring into Shio's still reddened eyes. Apparently Shio hadn't noticed that her eyes changed colour depending on her mood. They had always been blue, but changed to a deep red when she had become Kisan-Aralyn. When she was feeling okay, they faded to a dark grey with red tinges, and when she was upset or angry, they went bright red. It made it easy for everyone to tell how she was going, and it made it hard for her to try and tell everyone that she was okay.

"Gray was attacked by the same guild that attacked my village. They have a kraken as their guild mark and their leader is some middle-aged guy with orange guy and scars on his face." Shio told her friend while she tried not to cry again. Mira gripped her hands tighter in support and her brow knitted together as she nodded in understanding.

Not knowing what to say, the white-haired woman just left it alone. "I'll go and say hi to him, and I'll leave you guys to rest."

She walked to the bedroom with Shio and Mira had a quick chat with Gray, asking if he was okay and if he needed anything. He declined her offer, but she made sure to reinforce the point that she would do whatever she could to help her friends, and they just had to let her know what she could do. After that, she said her goodbyes and both Shio and Gray thanked her for bringing them some leftovers from the guild hall.

Though Shio was still upset, she knew that she had to eat something, and just tried her best to pick through a meal of roast meat and vegetables. Faelan helped by finishing off what she didn't eat, and Gray cleaned his plate in record time and had seconds, needing to make up for being unconscious for so long. Faelan had a small packet of treats that Mira had baked for him as well. Shio shook her head at how spoilt they all were. But that was Fairy Tail. Everyone pitched in to help when someone needed it.

"You want to go after them, don't you?" Faelan broke the strange silence that fell over them once they had finished eating.

She glared at him, not wanting Gray to know her thoughts on the situation since she knew that he would get worried and scold her about it.

"You are not going to take on a whole dark guild by yourself." Gray interjected immediately, but continued and surprised Shio a little. "Wait for me to get better and then we can start looking into tracking them down. All of Team Natsu can go, and they won't stand a chance." he grinned darkly at her, trying to lighten the mood a little.

A slightly forced smile was all he got in response, and his grin swiftly turned to a frown that Shio didn't see. She got up and went to the bathroom, intending on cleaning up and having a shower, if only to give herself a minute alone and hopefully give Gray a chance to go to sleep for some much needed rest.

While she was gone, Faelan told the ice mage what was going on in her head, for Shio's benefit. If he knew her thought process, Faelan hoped that he would understand what she was feeling.

"She will be alright. She's just angry. These guys killed everyone she ever knew or cared about in her village, and now they've kicked the crap out of someone from Fairy Tail. Someone from the guild who took her in without question when she had nowhere to go and has been supporting her with food and money for months. Since that person is you, it's even more personal." Faelan began, and shook his head at the ice mage when he went to speak. "To me, human relationships are still a little strange, but I can understand to an extent. From what I can see, you are her mate. I can feel her heart race when you are near her, and I can feel that she cares for you. Since these assholes have now hurt you, someone who has helped her get past all the previous pain and hurt and made her feel accepted and valued, it's reopened all those old wounds. If she is going to take these guys on, you need to let her do it." Faelan explained in the best way that he could, not exactly being that articulate or poetic.

If the subject matter wasn't covering how upset Shio was, Gray would have been a lot happier about hearing how much she liked him. "I'm not going to let her go by herself. If I lost against their leader, she definitely can't beat him."

"I know she won't just run off on her own. I wouldn't let her anyway, but if you guys do track down this dark guild, you must let her go and fight them. If she gets a little beat up, so what? Don't let yourself be so protective of her that she doesn't get to find some closure in all of this."

Before they could continue, Shio came out of the bathroom in just her towel, her eyes still just as vibrantly red as when she went in for a shower, telling Gray that she hadn't calmed down too much yet. Her blank expression couldn't hide what she was feeling as he spotted her hand balled tightly into a fist as she pulled some clothes out of her drawers then disappeared back into the bathroom to get dressed.

Once she came out, she busied herself with tidying up the house and almost pointedly ignoring Gray and Faelan. Not because she didn't want to speak to them, but because she was so frustrated that she was afraid that she would lash out at them for no reason just to try and relieve some of her anger. But doing that would just make her feel worse. After a little less than an hour, Gray had gone back to sleep from sheer exhaustion and she shut the door to let him rest.

She decided that she was going to get some groceries with some of the reward money from the mission she had done with Lucy. She instructed Faelan to keep an eye on Gray, and to give her a heads up if anything changed and to get Wendy if something went wrong. The wolf just nodded, knowing that she needed some space and time with her thoughts. He curled up on the floor next to the bed and dozed lightly while his companion was gone.

When Shio returned, she opened the front door to her apartment and set her groceries down in the kitchen. There was a folded up piece of paper on the counter and she hoped that Gray hadn't left due to her not talking to him earlier. The front had her name written on it, and the handwriting wasn't familiar to her. She scrunched her nose up for a moment as she tried to figure out who could have possibly left the note. She didn't lock the door when she left, so it wasn't a security issue. There wasn't a scent left behind either, which was just more confusing.

Faelan padded out to see her and noticed her confused expression. "What is it?"

"Did someone come in and leave a note while I was gone?" she asked, holding up the note for him to see.

"No. I just dozed while you were gone. What does it say?" he instinctively sniffed the air, but didn't notice anything out of the ordinary.

Shio unfolded the paper and raised an eyebrow at the content. "It says 'Shio, I have tracked down the dark guild who attacked your village and recently attacked Gray. I am going to go after them and wanted to offer you the chance to come with me if you chose to. If you want to come with me, meet me after dark in the Fairy Tail garden.'"

"Who is it from?"

"It's from Mystogan."


	10. Instincts

**Chapter 10 – Instincts**

_Shio unfolded the paper and raised an eyebrow at the content. "It says 'Shio, I have tracked down the dark guild who attacked your village and recently attacked Gray. I am going to go after them and wanted to offer you the chance to come with me if you chose to. If you want to come with me, meet me after dark in the Fairy Tail garden.'"_

" _Who is it from?"_

" _It's from Mystogan."_

_#_

"He wants you to go with him to take down the dark guild?"

"Yep…" Shio said with her brow knitted together tightly. "Damn sleep magic…" she whispered as she shook her head and turned to Faelan. "What do you think I should do?" she groaned and put the note down, placed her hands on either side and stared at it, hoping it would give her some answers.

"You want to go, don't you?" Faelan asked, as if it wasn't really a question that needed to be asked.

"Of course. I want to rip those assholes to pieces and tear their throats out." She growled harshly, her jaw clenching.

"Then isn't it obvious what you should do?" the wolf raised his shoulders from his front legs, in what Shio learnt was hid form of a shrug.

"But…what about Gray?" she asked, staring wistfully towards the bedroom.

"It's an hour after dark. There is no time for that. He might have left already. Leave Gray a note. I think he knows you well enough by now to understand your decisions. If not, that's his problem." She glared at him, and he simply shrugged at her again. Sometimes she disliked his rationale, but she couldn't exactly prove him wrong.

With a deep breath, she closed her eyes and tried to imagine what would happen if she went. There would be a few options. She would go, Gray would understand and wait for her to return, she would defeat the guild then come back and be with him. If she went and he didn't understand and disliked her for it, then he probably needed a kick up the arse anyway. On the other hand, if she didn't go, she knew that she would regret it. She did not wish to live with regret.

Faelan took her scrambling to find some sort of writing utensil as her answer. Once she found one, she flattened out the paper the best she could and began to write as fast as she could. It was getting darker by the minute and if she was too late, she would have nothing to go on to pick up Mystogan's trail, since he had left behind no scent. Probably out of habit. She knew that he was very good at destroying dark guilds, and was an incredibly strong S-class mage, worthy of the highest praise.

After a moment, she held up the paper and began to read.

_Gray,_

Please read the note above before you read this.

_I am so sorry for doing this right now. I am terrified that if I do not leave now and take down this guild, that I will regret it forever. More importantly, that I will never be worthy of standing at your side as an equal. As someone who can fight alongside you and protect you, just as you would do for me._

_I am not sure how long I will be gone for but I do not expect you to wait for me. I would be incredibly happy to come back to you once this is all over, but I want for you to be happy. If that means that you don't wait for me, I will understand._

_I will miss you with everything I have, and I will think of you every day._

_I love you._

_Shio._

With a nod, she placed it on the counter in plain sight and ran out the door, shutting it behind her. Her decision was made and she resisted the urge to look back as she sprinted to the Fairy Tail gardens. Once she arrived, she looked around for Mystogan, hoping desperately that she wasn't too late.

"Just in time." Mystogan appeared from the shadows of the large tree in the middle of the gardens. "We need to go right now or we will miss our train."

"Right now? I don't have a pack with me." Shio asked, breathless from the run across Magnolia.

"I have got enough supplies for the both of us. My lead will go cold if we wait any longer to get the next train. It may be cold already." He spoke quietly, which seemed in character for him. This was the second time that she had actually seen him, and his dark eyes reflected the light of the moon that was getting ever higher in the sky.

"Alright. Do you know how long we will be gone for?" she questioned, hoping for something along the line of a few weeks.

Mystogan knew why she was asking and smirked faintly under his mask, unbeknownst to Shio. "There are a few different factions of the guild spread out through Fiore, from what I have heard. I only have a lead on one possible location, so I cannot tell you how long we will be gone for. I can only promise you that this will be hard work."

He turned and began to walk, and she fell into step beside him in answer to his silent question ' _Are you prepared for this?'_. This was it. This was her moment, her time to shine. She had a few concerns, mostly about those she had left behind, and also about her lack of combat experience. She had not even been in one fight yet, nor used her abilities in a proper battle. Hopefully she would survive long enough to learn.

#

_7 Days Later_

Shio and Mystogan were sitting in front of the campfire they had made, stopping for the first time that day as the sun was slowly going down. They had travelled non-stop for the last day, and she was absolutely exhausted. Barely any conversation was shared between the three of them, and Faelan could feel how tumultuous Shio's emotions were. One minute she was calm, the next angry and ready to crack some skulls, the next she would despair about leaving Gray behind with nothing more than a note and a hope that he would be there when she got back.

The lead they had gotten was still current, which was great. It was for a hideout in the forest a few hours outside a small village. Some of the townsfolk had seen the kraken mark upon the strange visitors to their town. Shio hoped that things would improve and she would focus on the task at hand when they arrived. She had been having nightmares every time they had stopped to sleep for a few hours. The horrifying things she saw when she closed her eyes had forced her to the point of sheer exhaustion since she was so terrified of what she would see when she fell asleep.

They had been getting longer each time she slept, and showing her more each time. She was even more worried about what she would see when the nightmare came to its end.

Yesterday's had been the worst.

_She opened her eyes to a sea of red that seemed to stretch on forever. Once she stood up, she got her bearings, and the world flipped upside down - which was apparently the right way - as the sea became the sky. There was a strong metallic smell in the air, the metallic smell of blood, so strong that she could taste it. She swallowed thickly, but felt like nothing really happened. Instead it felt like it was just getting worse, like her mouth was just refilling itself somehow._

_Out of curiosity, she opened her mouth to run her pointer and middle finger over her tongue. She took them out of her mouth and looked down to find them covered in blood. Once the realisation hit her, she immediately cough and spit blood all over the ground in front of her. As she struggled to catch her breath after her fit, she was aware of a presence behind her. It wasn't a malicious one, but she felt like something bad was going to happen. She stood back up to her full height and looked over her shoulder just enough to see Faelan behind her, red eyes staring back into her own red orbs._

_For a reason that she didn't understand, she nodded once to her wolf companion and felt his paws on her shoulders abruptly. A moment later, huge jaws clamped down on the junction where her neck and shoulder met. All the air in her lungs was knocked out and she choked slightly as she tried in vain to inhale, mouth still full with blood. Her whole body began to shake and she felt like there was so much adrenaline flowing through her with such force, that the veins inside her body might just burst from the strain._

_After at least a minute of searing pain, she felt...full, in both her body and mind. Her muscles felt like they were on fire, and she looked down to see herself with strange legs that were like a dog's hind legs. Looking down at her hands and arms, she saw razor sharp black claws that were at least 5 or 6 inches long. There was a fine black fur that covered her, and she had become very aware that her head felt different and that her teeth felt longer, and sharper. She knew it was her transformation, but this was completely different._

_Her mind was battling with itself, trying to tell her what to do and she could clearly hear two different voices. One sounded like her voice, and she identified the other as Faelan's voice, only a little more gruff than she was used to. When she finally focused on quieting the yelling in her head, she lifted her head up to look at what was ahead as one voice became the loudest._

"Kill them all."

_There were unfamiliar people grouped in front of her, around 30 of them watching her with terror upon their faces. She rushed at them with frightening speed. Some of them struggled to run away from her, and got cut down as they scrambled to escape. She spared no one on her rampage. Her claws tore through flesh and veins, her teeth crunched and snapped bone with ease. She attempted to grab a man's head, but he tried to swat her arm away. Rage took over, and she grasped his arm and yanked it away from his body, separating them with a rip and a dull pop. His pained screams were deafening as she finally got a hold of his head. Wrenching it backward, the soft flesh of his throat became easy to access, and she bit through it with no hesitation, her mouth filling with blood, skin and veins catching in her teeth._

_As his screams faded to weak, sickly coughs, she tossed him away like a ragdoll, and roared loudly, blood and gore dripping from her face before leaping toward the next enemy. His back was to her as he was trying to run, and she used her claws to cleave through the muscles, and tendons on his right leg. He screamed and fell to the ground, trying desperately to crawl away._

_Something akin to a laugh came from her mouth, and she stomped a large clawed foot upon his back, feeling ribs breaking underneath the force. There were a few men left, and most were all running for their lives. Those who weren't were frozen in fear or praying to whatever gods they believed in. She glanced down to the man beneath her foot and noticed in the back of her mind that he wasn't breathing any more._

_Her piercing gaze turned toward a man who was wearing a blue jacket. He was stuck on the spot, his eyes wide with horror at the sight of his comrades literally torn apart in front of him. When she moved to stand about a foot away from him, a strange smell appeared in the air. Looking down, she saw his pants darkening with moisture and the smell got stronger. He was trembling as she stood before him, blood splattered on the fur that covered her body, and she tilted her head in confusion, still trying to figure out the scent._

_A whimper escaped him as she leant forward and sniffed at him. Her thought process was broken at the sound and in one swift swipe, she had cut open his stomach so deeply that his insides began to slowly slide out of the gash. Blood dripped down his already wet pants and turned his blue jacket a shade of red that was unknown to her and she studied it absent-mindedly while he fell to his knees._

_She stepped aside as he hit the ground face first, and turned on her next enemy..._

At that point, Mystogan had woken her up, his dark eyes wide. She had to restrain herself from taking his throat out, as her hands were transformed and her claws viciously sharp. Though she doubted that she would actually be able to hit him, she was still trying her best to be careful. If she hurt him, it would break her. She would lose the person who had saved her life and carried days to bring her back to his guild which was now her home too. She almost lost Gray, and she had already lost her family.

Her nightmares consistently haunted her, and she knew that Mystogan could tell. He had not mentioned it, but it seemed that he understood enough to be a silent support. Once she had calmed down after her violent dreams, he placed a hand on her shoulder and gave her an almost imperceptible nod.

It was either that he didn't know what to say, or he acknowledged that there wasn't anything he could say that would make it any easier to deal with. Faelan had more than likely explained to him why she was having the nightmares, and why they were haunting her waking hours as well as the rare ones when they had gotten to rest.

After she had met him in the gardens, they had gone straight to the train station. The train they got on had headed to Oshibana, and she had mostly tried to meditate and catch up on the sleep she had missed while Gray was knocking on death's door in her place at Fairy Hills.

Her emotions had begun to lose their normalcy after she had fallen asleep and woken up a minute later once she had seen the blood-coloured sky. It was the first time she had been away from a safe place since her village, which also frightened her a little. Immediately, she became awash with fear of the unknown. She had not undertaken something like this before. The closest thing was her going back to her village with Gray all those months ago.

That seemed like a different life, and that she was a different person now. Now that she was hunting the dark guild who had hurt her so, she could feel the quieter undertones of her animal counterpart get louder in her mind and she knew it was making her more aggressive. She had to keep herself in check so that she didn't upset or offend her travelling companions. If Faelan was annoying her, she could just send him home, but Mystogan was different.

He didn't talk much, which she was okay with. Conversation was hard if you didn't know anything about the other person's likes or dislikes. Not that there wasn't common ground, so to speak. They were both mages in the guild Fairy Tail, and had all the same friends. It wasn't that he didn't speak at all, but they just didn't really have anything to talk about. If she asked him something, he would respond politely, but he wouldn't initiate conversation.

If he spoke first, then it was normally along the lines of 'Let's make camp for the night', or 'Let's sit and eat something'. She could always have conversation with Faelan, even if it was through their connection instead of out loud, it felt the same. It was sometimes nice to just enjoy the silence, so she could organise her thoughts. She had been arguing with herself for the last week over her decision to leave Magnolia, and was at a stalemate in her own mind.

As the sun fully set and their campfire became the only source of light, Shio knew that she had to rest, but offered to take the first watch to give herself time to psyche herself up for what she would seen in her dreams tonight. Mystogan watched her silently for a moment before he gave her a single nod and then curled up in his sleeping bag and closed his eyes. Clearly, he was just as exhausted as she was. Faelan was already asleep next to her, and she used this time to meditate and use his senses to keep a look out for any nearby danger. It still felt a little odd to suddenly have her sense of smell and hearing magnified several times, as she could smell the faintest scents and hear the nocturnal creatures moving around with ease.

For hours, she continued to focus on listening to those small sounds, trying to make sure that none of them were hushed voices, or footsteps. The scents on the cool breeze hadn't changed, which was also a good sign. Her pale red eyes were focusing on the trees and shrubs around them, looking for unnatural movements.

The moon was high in the sky when Mystogan woke up, offering to take over watch duties. She hesitated but accepted once his dark eyes softened a little. She knew that he could tell how hard it had become for her to simply go to sleep, and she thanked him in the form of a sad smile. He got out of the sleeping bag and brought it over to her to use. They only had the one since she hadn't packed anything, since one of them would be on watch every night anyway.

Instead of moving away from her, he sat down next to her and leaned against a tree as she shuffled around to get comfortable. Her eyes, still red from using Faelan senses stared at him questioningly, but didn't ask for a reason. He merely stared back at her blankly, with an unreadable expression, something in his eyes that she couldn't quite analyse. After a moment, he relented, answering her unspoken question.

"I will use my sleep magic, so you will able to rest properly." he explained simply, but his tone was soft and she thought that it might have held a twinge of concern.

She continued to stare before she could find the words she wanted to say. "Uh...thank you. I would greatly appreciate that." she turned her eyes towards the ground in front of her, out of a sense of embarrassment that he had to help her sleep just so she wouldn't dream.

His magic began to rise, and though it was faint it was just enough for him to cast the spell so it would just affect her. She began to feel her lids getting heavy and her breathing began to slow and even out. Her eyes began to close and she heard Mystogan speak and nodded sleepily in response.

"I'll be right here."

#

_3 Days Later_

"How many?"

"I can smell 5 different people. All male. Nothing out of the ordinary."

Mystogan nodded in response. They were staking out a hideout just outside of a small village, and were waiting for a good time to attack. They had watched the place for the whole day, making sure to not alert anyone to their presence. Faelan's senses had become invaluable as well as his extra set of eyes to help them make sure they knew what they were in for. He was lying in wait on the other side of the small cabin, ensuring that no one would get away from here without a good fight.

"You were sparring regularly with Mirajane, yes?" he framed it in the form of a question, but Shio knew that he was looking for confirmation.

"Yes. I have not done something like this before, so if I could follow your lead that would be very helpful." she bowed her head subconsciously in respect of his storied abilities to take down dark guilds by himself. She still wasn't entirely sure why he asked her to come, since she doubted he needed the assistance. Whatever the reason, she was grateful.

"I will ensure that you will be able to get sufficient practice without injury. Follow your instincts, they are incredibly well developed." he replied evenly, his brow slightly furrowed with concentration.

" _You're welcome!"_ Faelan spoke up in her head, and she huffed quietly in amusement.

" _Smart ass."_ she replied with a smirk on her face that he couldn't see, but he could hear it in her voice.

"I would like you to go in first. You are significantly faster than I am without the aid of magic, and should be able to get the drop on them. Rush in and take down as many as you can. I will follow after you and take care of anyone at your back."

She scrunched up her face a little, not quite sure of how her going in first would be a good idea. Sure, he was right. She was faster than him without him using any magic, and physically she could enhance herself to become stronger, but she wasn't quite sure what she would do once they turned on her.

"Do not be so unsure of yourself. As I said, follow your instincts. Do not hesitate. Go when you are ready." Mystogan was watching the cabin, but his voice was firm and encouraging.

After a breath to ready herself, she nodded once to indicate that she was ready. "I'm going." She felt Faelan nod in confirmation and he was readying himself as well.

Focusing her magic, she felt her fingernails grow to a sharp point, and her muscles become more solid and powerful. Her face shape changed as well, giving her a very short snout, which would allow her to use sharpened teeth if needed. Once she had finished her transformation she took off as fast as she could and burst through the front door, taking it clean off the hinges with little effort. Her anger and pain began to flow swiftly through her and she wasn't about to go easy on these guys.

The 5 men in the room all jumped back, and one of them was in reach on her right. She grabbed his shirt front and pulled him onto her knee, which went straight into his solar plexus, violently knocking the wind out of him. She pushed him back up and punched him with a right hook and he was out cold.

The second one was on the other side of a coffee table. Shio leapt at him, crossing almost 3 metres in one jump and she slashed him across the chest as he stumbled to get away from her. The gash began to spurt blood, so much so that the man standing next to him slipped over as he was trying to get out of Shio's iron grip. She kicked his right leg as she grasped his shoulder, forcing the bone to snap from the force. He screamed loudly in pain, and once she let him go she focused on the sound of footfalls behind her.

Shio snarled angrily, knowing that there was still three left. The back door to the cabin was only a metre or two away, and one of the men almost got out, but Shio was too fast for him. She was upon him as his hand touched the door knob and she smashed his head into the door frame so hard she heard the wood splinter. Both his eye socket and cheekbone were either fractured or broken as well.

On her left, one of the men yelped in fright and she simply swiped at him. The first one hit his shoulder, almost cleaving a large chunk of flesh off the bone. The second got his ribs, but wasn't very deep. The third one was a punch that collided straight on with his nose, breaking it and knocking him out simultaneously.

Now that there was only one guy left, she gathered that he would be the best to interrogate. He had watched her take down his four friends by herself, and she doubted he would say 'Boo' to her after all that. She realised in the back of her mind that Mystogan hadn't appeared yet, as she grabbed the last man by the throat with one hand, careful not to use too much strength and crush it. Though her hands weren't too much bigger than normal, she could still do a severe amount of damage if she wanted to.

He was whimpering by the time she had forcefully moved him to sit in one of the seats at the small dining table. She heard footfalls behind her and looked to see Mystogan standing in the doorway, his eyes a little wider than normal as he took in the damage she had done so quickly. It had only taken her about half a minute to do all that, and he had planned on jumping in after her to take care of anyone that ended up flanking her, but he realised quickly that she didn't need his help at all and left her to it.

Her face went back to normal as she tied the man to the chair, ensuring he wasn't going anywhere they didn't want him to. She mentally told Faelan to come inside and keep an eye on the other four. Mystogan looked her over and saw that her muscles were still strongly defined, and her eyes were still a deep red, signifying that she had not let her guard down at all. He waited until she looked back at him, and he gave her a small smile that seemed to calm her down a little, as her eyes faded to a washed-out red.

The dark-eyed Fairy Tail wizard moved and stood in front of the man and took note of how fast his breathing was. He was terror-stricken. "Tell me about Black Kraken."

Unfortunately for him, he made the choice of being silent. It was either out of loyalty or fear. Shio had just finished moving all the others into the kitchen for Faelan to watch while they got the last guy to give them information. Mystogan made eye contact with her and she knew what he wanted her to do immediately. She growled low and deep in her chest as she began to transform more, claws and teeth growing with lethal purpose.

Once she moved to stand in front of him, she made her irises glow a brighter red, and kept growling. After he began to physically shake with utter terror, she stopped and went back to restraining the four other men. She didn't realise how scary she could be, and just as she finished her thought she heard Faelan chuckling in their shared consciousness. She stared at him pointedly, but couldn't hide the faint smirk from her face.

"Tell me about Black Kraken." Mystogan repeated with a voice that dared the man to stay silent. "How many people do you have?"

The man coughed and finally spoke up, his voice wavering like a tree in a hurricane. "W-we are about 150 strong."

"Where are you based?"

He hesitated again until he heard the low grumble coming from the wolf-like woman as her patience started to wear thin. "We don't stay in one place. We stay nomadic to avoid capture."

"So why are there only 5 of you here?"

"To look for ways to make money." he said this a little quieter, and both Shio and Mystogan knew what that meant.

Their discussion went on for at least an hour, and in this time Shio had signalled the Magic Council with a special device Makarov had given Mystogan. Due to his taking down dark guilds so many times before, including taking down Phantom Lord's subdivisions during their war with Fairy Tail. The device would imbue the ground with a magical rune that would be tracked down by the Rune Knights once the signal was received. Mystogan would always be gone by the time they got there, but the men would be arrested, tried and put into jail for being in a dark guild.

After they had gotten the information they wanted, Mystogan let Shio knock out the man tied to the chair as a last ditch effort to get a bit more payback. They were heading towards a nearby town, where they would they would sleep for the night and get supplies. Shio's thoughts turned inward and chewed her lip as they walked in whatever direction Mystogan was leading them.

Though she had kept herself mostly in check when she fought those men, she knew that she had done some brutal things in there, and wondered if Mystogan thought her a vicious or sadistic person. She wasn't, but she merely felt that these guys deserved to reap what they had sown. They had not shown any one in her village mercy, and probably didn't worry too much about who they were, or the repercussions of their actions when they were stealing all the valuables in the small village after the massacre.

Luckily, she hadn't torn people apart like she had done so many times in her blood-soaked dreams, and she was at least glad for that. She could feel that Faelan wanted to say something to her, but he wasn't letting her know what it was. Mystogan had been glancing at her occasionally and she guessed that he had something to say as well.

" _What is it? I know you want to say something."_ she hissed to Faelan mentally, a bit fed up with the tension in the air.

" _I'm just a little concerned is all. I hope you are feeling okay."_ he replied with a tone that calmed her immediately. She knew that he was trying to look out for her, and felt bad for asking him so rudely.

" _Sorry, I'm still a bit worked up, I think. I just want these guys to get what they deserve."_ Shio sighed verbally and it got Mystogan's attention.

"Are you alright?" he asked simply, with his eyes still focused towards the path in front of them.

"I will be." Shio replied in almost a whisper, and looked down at her hands, getting flashbacks of them covered in blood and gore from her nightmares.

With another sigh, she quickly looked up at the sky, just to check it was still blue...


	11. Burning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I haven't forgotten about this story! I work 3 jobs and life keeps getting in the way, but I promise that I am working as often as I can to finish it!  
> Thank you for your support and I hope you keep reading.

**Chapter 11 - Burning**

_The sky was blue above her as she laid back with her arms behind her head, acting as a cushion from the hard ground. The grassy meadow she was in was coloured wonderfully with yellow and white flowers and she felt truly relaxed. Like nothing could ever make her feel angry, or sad ever again. She vaguely registered some strange sounds coming from behind her, but didn't let it worry her and simply sighed, closed her eyes and felt her muscles relax, as if she was sinking into the ground._

_Even with her eyes closed, she could 'see' some strange, bright lights that flashed around her, and she felt herself frown. The carefree feeling was beginning to fade, and she could feel dread and fear bubble up inside her. Something wasn't right here, and a gasp of terror escaped her as she opened her eyes and saw that the blue sky was being taken over by a blood red one._

_When she realised the sounds she heard earlier were thunder rumbling and the flashes were lightning, she sat up quickly to look for the source of the storm. A few hundred metres away, she could see rain falling and it was approaching her…fast. Struggling to get to her feet, like the ground was trying to hold onto her, all the happy feelings felt like they were sucked out of her immediately. The terror that replaced almost made her freeze, but she forced herself up and broke into a sprint, trying to escape the storm._

_It was on her faster than she expected and she felt the droplets hit her shoulders, back and head, as she tried and failed to outrun it. After a minute, she gave up on running and slowed to a stop, knowing that it was in vein. She held out her hands and watched the scarlet droplets fall onto her, and a horrified scream escaped her and she began to cry realising that it wasn't water, but blood falling from the sky. Her tears mixed with the blood rain, diluting the colour of red on her face._

_A shiver went down her spine as she felt someone or somethings gaze behind her burning a hole through her chest. She was shaking like a leaf in the wind as she turned to see what it was that was radiating malice and killing intent. Wiping the blood from her face so she could see better, her mouth fell open and she saw that it was herself that she could see, like looking into a nightmare mirror. The version of herself was transformed into something that she could only just recognise herself in, but she almost didn't want to see what a monster she looked like._

_Dark fur that was soaked in blood covered her body, her arms and shoulders were broader with lean muscle, built for speed. Her black hair fell over her shoulders, and blood dripped down her chest. There was only scraps of clothing covering her form, and her legs were built like small tree trunks, and her feet were much larger than normal and had elongated claws that curled menacingly into the ground. Her hands were similar, with sharp nails that glinted in the minimal light._

_She felt her throat try to make the sound of a scream, but it died within her with little resistance as she was frozen with fear by the sigh before her. Barely registered the now deafening sound of thunder, lightning flashes and red rain falling, she just stared at what she had become. There was a voice that was whispering of violence, blood and death in her head and she managed to dispel the thoughts as best she could, trying to stop them from taking hold in her mind._

_It seemed like an eternity as she stared at the monster within her, given form and she frowned imperceptibly for a moment, wondering if it was even alive or just a statue or image representing that part of her mind. Her head tilted ever so slightly to the side, trying to see it from a different angle, just in case that would give her the answer and squinted her eyes._

_Still not moving, she craned her neck forward a little and the scream her body had denied her earlier escaped her as the creature resembling herself rushed forward with mouth open, ready to bite into her flesh, and arms raised, claws ready to slice through muscle and sinew._

* * *

_Four months later…_

Her breathing was even and controlled as she sat cross-legged with eyes closed. Concentrating on the feeling of manipulating her power within her own mind, body and spirit. She felt her and Faelan's combined strength changing form and shape. Somewhere in her conscious mind, she felt the presence of someone moving near her. Almost immediately, she recognised it as Mystogan who quickly sat down on the edge of her senses and waited for her to come out of her trance-like state and acknowledge him. It took her a minute as she slowly brought herself back to reality.

It had been a bit over four months since she had left with Mystogan, since she had left Magnolia, left Fairy Tail... left Gray. She hadn't heard anything from anyone, but she guessed that Mystogan had been keeping tabs on the guild in his own secret ways. Since she didn't know how he did it, she presumed that it was only news that he heard in the towns they occasionally visited, and not correspondence with anyone from the guild directly. He had not made her privy to any information regarding Fairy Tail, so she hoped that nothing outlandish had happened in her absence. She did presume that if they got attacked or something went wrong, that he would tell her, but she couldn't be sure.

Thinking about Gray just made her heart ache more every day that she was away, and she missed him terribly. She missed how he was so cool and collected all the time, and how he made her feel safe. Since she had been away from him, she had struggled to deal with her anger towards Black Kraken. She missed his crazy antics with Natsu and how much fun she had when she was with him. Most of all, she missed the way he would look at her with quiet adoration, and the way he smiled at her. He made her forget how messed up the world could be and they hadn't really even been officially 'together' either. Just dancing around the subject for the last few weeks before she left.

As they got closer and closer to getting rid of these guys permanently, Shio was becoming increasingly impatient and frustrated. Maybe it was just exhaustion from running all around the country, missing her friends and her home in Magnolia and the rest of the guild itself. She knew that a big part of it was anxiety about her being away from Gray for too long. The longer she was away, the higher the chance would be that he would find someone else, or just give up on her altogether, if he hadn't already. Even though Shio desperately wanted him to be there with open arms when she got back home, she knew that she would silently accept it if he told her that he had moved on from her while she was away, or if he found someone else. As much as it would hurt, and tear her heart in two, she was mature enough to want him to be happy, even if it meant he wasn't happy with her. She would still love him no matter what happened, but his reception of her would be the only thing determining what would happen between them. Shio had no interest in forcing him into anything, so until she was finished with the mission she would try to keep her heart quiet so she didn't run back to Magnolia in all hours of the night. She _had_ to see this through.

They had found the most recent Black Kraken groups because one of their members had the guild mark on the back of his neck and had not covered it up and had been seen by some townsfolk with a good memory. This had given them a few leads, which was what they had been following up on for the last few weeks. Luckily, they didn't have to back track to find the trail as they headed in the same direction they were already going.

Currently, they were heading towards another small group that they had gotten information from their most recently arrested members. It seemed that they were staying closer together so they could band together easier if need be. Unfortunately for them, they were not very good at keeping this information to themselves once they had been captured. The last interrogation took around 3 hours, but Mystogan had gotten the information out, all the while Shio growled and snarled in a rage with Mystogan just being able to keep her calm with a few looks and words.

Most times her fury at Black Kraken helped with intimidating them into talking faster, since her partial transformations were rather scary. Especially when she changed from the 5 foot tall woman with an athletic build into the lean muscled, agile creature with claws and teeth that were ready to tear through flesh. They used it to their advantage when they could, but Faelan and Shio had both become very aware that her emotions were much harder to control in her changed state. Mystogan had noticed it right away and took a stoic commander role when necessary. He was rather convincing, and it had helped her to calm down and not kill their prisoners.

Other than those times, she had mostly been planning and fighting alongside him, rather than following orders and doing everything he told her to. He would advise her on certain tactics, strategies and she would in turn agree, ask questions or suggest an alternate path. Sometimes she would be the one to scout out their targets, and suggest a plan of attack or ask what he suggested, depending on how confident she felt. Gradually, she was beginning to get better at analysing the best course of action for attack, though considering her instincts were doing most of the work, she wasn't sure if she was actually learning from Mystogan or just guessing.

There had certainly been a few mistakes at the start on her part, like trying to take on too many enemies at once, getting flanked and not watching closely enough to find gaps in her opponents defence. Since she was mostly a hand-to-hand fighter, with a couple of short to mid-range techniques that she was slowly perfecting her use of in battle, it could be difficult to pick her opponents. Mystogan had already had to get her out of a very badly matched fight against someone who poisoned whoever touched him. She had gotten very sick over the next few days, but luckily her sense of smell had caused her to call for his help after her first punch landed. Her increased metabolism had helped her to get over the effects of the poison faster than normal people as well.

She had barely made it through that fight before passing out from the poison in her system. Luckily for Mystogan, his magic was fine for ranged attacks and he quickly dealt with the rest of the opponents as Shio's strength failed her during the fight. Faelan had helped as well, but he had felt some of his strength drain as Shio's did, due to their link. When either of them were hurt, the other would feel a vague shadow of it, but thankfully it wasn't the full extent of the injury. The next few days that followed were a mix of fevered hallucinations, vomiting and severe dehydration. It had also taken her a few days after that to be able to eat something without throwing it up and her appetite still wasn't the same since then. It had affected Faelan as well, but he was in much better shape than Shio, though he did feel how much pain she was in through their link.

With a grounding breath as she brought herself out of her thoughts, Shio opened her eyes and looked straight at Mystogan. They faded from blood-red to their normal washed-out red as her face began to relax into a neutral expression. As usual, only his eyes were revealed and even after all this time they had spent together, she still had not seen underneath the mask. However, she had gotten better at reading him just by looking at his dark eyes and how they focused or how his eyebrows moved. Occasionally the shadows on his mask would help determine what his expression was underneath as well. He was still very composed and almost impossible to read, so mostly she was just guessing what he was thinking.

"I have confirmed their presence in the building. Shall we go now or do you need time to prepare?" Mystogan asked with his usual, quiet and even-toned voice.

Shio shook her head. "I will be fine." She stood up and fell into step next to him, Faelan trotting behind them as they headed to the location of their targets.

She knew that he wasn't asking if she needed time to prepare herself for the fighting itself, or for the planning stages, but mentally preparing to hold back her anger. Though it was a little frustrating that she found it difficult to contain herself when she was transformed, she knew that he understood and was accounting for that weakness. If he wasn't so quiet and introverted, he would be the best leader she had ever met. He always planned around what would give them the biggest advantage, and always used their numbers and the link between her and Faelan as well as their heightened senses. His perceptive and deductive abilities were incredibly impressive and Shio quite frequently found herself in awe of his intellect and strategic ability.

Shio would never be that smart, or that calm in a fight. That was the catch with her abilities, she was so quick to anger that it was so hard for her to control herself in during the fights and interrogations. She recalled their first attack together where she had almost slaughtered the 5 men just because she couldn't contain herself. Her techniques had become more controlled with her fighting experience, and Mystogan working with her in between finding Black Kraken, so she still hadn't killed anyone yet, which she was glad about, though her animalistic side would disagree on that point.

Her train of thought ceased as they reached the scouting point Mystogan would have used as he watch their marks for the last hour. He quickly discussed strategy of entering the building with her, as they were well practised at this part and were good at working together to flank their opponents so that they had nowhere to go.

"Would you like to enter from the front or the back?" he asked her, giving her a chance to figure out where her skills would be best used in this scenario. As usual, she was just hoping that the answer she gave was the right one.

"I think that I am more useful for going in the front here, as the back area has so much bush and scrub that it would be difficult to escape that way. Even though I am physically faster than you, you can cut off their escape with your long range techniques which will also force them towards me. Faelan can rush in with me." she suggested thoughtfully, watching the building that looked abandoned from the outside.

"That is agreeable." Mystogan gave her a single nod, telling her that he found her strategy to be the most advantageous for them.

Shio nodded in confirmation, and glanced back toward the building. "Right then, we're off." Mystogan's mask and hair flapped in the wind she left behind after leaping away in the direction of the front door. He shared a blank look with Faelan before the black wolf trotted off, planning to be about 5 seconds behind his companion.

The partial transformation was complete by the time she burst through the door and went to the door on the left first. She sensed Faelan behind her and he would be heading to any rooms on the right. That was how they worked best. She vaguely felt Mystogan's presence move around to the back of the building as she moved onto the next room after not finding anything in the first one. Though she heard Faelan clashing with an enemy across the hall, she continued on her way, knowing that if he needed help he would tell her.

Sounds of battle rung in her ears until she practically fell on her first opponent who was scrambling to get towards the room that Faelan was still in. Instead of stopping in her tracks, she sped up and leapt on him, clawed hands on his shoulders as she pushed him to the ground. His reflexes were impressive and he managed to flip them over before she could fully push her weight on him. He put his hands on her throat and she could feel magical power churn within him, and knew he was going to use an ability. Unfortunately for him, she had gotten good at close range fighting, which left anyone with mid to long range abilities at a disadvantage once she got in close.

She grabbed a hold of the hands on her throat and easily pried them off, but held him by his wrists with all her strength to avoid him getting away. Once she had a good hold, she used her legs and put them over his shoulders. Her knees were over his shoulders, pressed against his neck, and she had his arms pinned in her grip and wasn't letting go. Once she began to squeeze her legs together and pushed her hips up, he yelped in pain and tried frantically to get out of her hold. She simply had too much physical strength for him to escape and only made her hold on tighter. With a loud crack and a pained scream, one of his arms broke, and the force of her pushing her knees into his throat had considerably slowed the flow of blood to his brain, leaving him dazed.

Shio let him go and waited until he rolled onto his back, clutching his injured arm and wailing before she stood over him and knocked him out with a single punch. Since she felt no panic from Faelan, she moved towards the back of the house and found a set of stairs leading down into a basement. Quickly, she gave Faelan a mental heads up and told him to clear the rest of the top floor. She could smell 2 different people in the basement and figured that she could handle them.

None of these large groups had possessed a significantly strong mage, which was good for the trio. It was merely their numbers that could present a problem. Shio, being a close range fighter, could not let herself get overwhelmed by too many foes at once. This was where her luck ran out though, and unbeknownst to Shio, she was walking right in the middle of a close range fight with 2 people who were all decently strong with more battle experience than her. Experience could turn the tide of a fight, which she would soon learn.

As she casually leapt down the stairs, clearing them in one go, she landed on the floor and spied the men who were already in defensive stances. She smirked arrogantly, not knowing that she was about to learn a lesson she would not forget. Straining for a moment, she strengthened her transformation, giving herself extra musculature since she may need it in such close quarters. After a breath, one of them ran at her, and almost knocked her out in one swing.

Only avoiding the burst of power that pushed out from his fist with sheer instinct, she quickly toned down her musculature to allow for more agility. This was one of her skills that she had learnt from her minimal battle experience, and something that Mystogan had asked if she could do. She barely avoided the second punch, but his kick landed on her ribs and sent her flying into the basement wall. Even Faelan felt the house shake with the force, and felt Shio's mix of pain and surprise through their link and he knew that she was in trouble.

Since they couldn't mentally communicate with Mystogan, they had agreed to use a system where if Faelan went down, Shio would signal him, or vice versa, so that he could help. But Faelan was on the ropes with his fight and wasn't able to come and help her yet. She could sense Mystogan fighting outside the house, too far for him to hear her if she called out to him. For the moment, Shio would have to wait and fight with everything she had. Her breath was knocked out of her lungs and she struggled to stand up and defend herself before the mage came over to her.

He raised his arm, fist clenched tight, and went to strike her in the head, which would at the very least knock her out, but more than likely break her skull and kill her due to the explosive force behind his attacks. Her fear was building within her, and she didn't know how she would get out of this. Her skills were suited for taking down mid to long range fighters, but those who specialised in close range combat were a big threat to her, due to her lack of experience.

In a moment of survival instinct, she used her slicing attack, which sent a wave of dark energy going through the air in front of her. She was too frightened to control it properly and it cleaved the enemy in front of her in half, but dissipated too quickly for it to do any more damage. She regained her balance as the next opponent came at her too fast for her to react.

As soon as he touched her with a fist in the gut, something felt very wrong. Faelan felt it too through their link and was still unable to signal for Mystogan, at least not loud enough for him to hear it. When Shio got punched, the air in both their lungs got knocked out again for the second time in a few short minutes. Faelan would have to regain his breath before he could signal for Mystogan. He could feel the mysterious man's magical power, and knew that he wasn't too far away.

Now that Shio's opponent was closer to her, she could see his skin was…wet. There was a strange smell, something that she couldn't identify. It burnt her nostrils and her throat and it felt like it was burning her skin away. She covered her head as he sent a barrage of punches her way. Each time she blocked, she felt her skin sear away and hissed in pain. She felt her skin blistering and could feel Faelan's worry in her mind.

A moment later, she heard him signalling to Mystogan and she knew he was getting closer from the strength of his magical power increasing. Normally she would be able to smell him coming, but she hadn't been able to catch her breath back and now her nostrils were full of the smell of her own burning skin. It almost made her vomit, but she kept it down and tried to focus on defending herself. She needed to fight back. Her breath was back and she steadied herself and forced her knees to bend into a fighting stance, though the blows hit her harder.

Shio began to feel a strange sensation from deep down in her gut. It wasn't the contents of her stomach threatening to come back up her oesophagus. It was something entirely different. She could feel Faelan's presence stronger within her than ever before, but it didn't feel like the Faelan she knew as well as she knew herself. It felt like her body was not her own. Slowly her arms dropped, revealing her opponent's target, her head, and even as he began hitting her with everything he had, she stood fast and strong. His blows barely made her head turn, until after a few more she stared him, eyes red with animalistic fury, and took them as if they were a gentle caress.

The man slowed to a stop, his hand clenched into a fist inches from her face, and his eyes wide with confusion from the sudden change. Shio breathed deep and exhaled slowly, the strange moment dragging out as she watched the man's hand fall to his side. Though she could tell her skin was blistering, and bubbling, the pain was non-existent for it was not her in control of her body. Her stranglehold on herself failed, and her control fell away. It was as if she was watching someone else's action through their own eyes. It gave her a faint inkling of fear in the back of her mind, but not strong enough to stop what had already happened within her.

Once she had completely lost her grip on herself, she watched, trapped within her own mind as she grabbed her opponent by the shoulders, claws digging in to his skin. Blood dripped down her hands and arms, and in one movement she pulled him to her and bit into the side of his neck, feeling the warm, metallic liquid fill her mouth and fall down her chin and onto her chest. She could hear his heartbeat slow and let him go, and felt nothing as he crumpled to the floor in a heap.

There was voices talking to her in her head, and she recognised both of the voices, though they sounded like the same voice, but different.

" **Akashio, let go of your ideas of mercy…they do not deserve your kindness. Tear them apart, and feast on their pain and suffering…"**

" _Shio, you cannot give in to your rage and hate. You will be taken in by it and destroy everything in your path, including those you care for. Be strong."_

A groan came from her mouth, and she felt a presence at the top of the stairs. Half of her was ready to shred them, and the other half recognised who it was and knew not to be alarmed or feel threatened. She heard Faelan calling out to her mentally and it broke her from her trance-like state. After a moment, she was swaying on her feet and began to feel intense agony from her burning skin.

She realised it was Mystogan at the top of the stairs, and she knew that he was smart enough to keep his distance until she signalled that she was back in control. They had discussed the possibility of this happening, but she never actually expected she would have to deal with the dark and murderous corner of her mind just yet. She hadn't even tried to attempt a full transformation yet, but it seemed that her skill was becoming so natural that she was trying to do it as a defence mechanism.

"Mys…Mystogan…" she managed to say in a strained whisper, just loud enough for him to hear and she saw him flinch for a moment and watched her body change back to her normal self. He stared right into her eyes and waited until they faded from scarlet to their usual colour before he approached her. He caught her just before she fell flat on her face, exhausted and in agony.

Barely, she felt him pick her up in his arms and heard Faelan's footsteps as he ran to them. She felt the warmth of the sun on her searing skin and saw blurred images of trees and the sky before everything went black…


	12. Chapter 12 - Barriers

**Chapter 12 - Barriers**

Shio woke up to see trees around her and a slightly cloudy sky peeking it's light through the canopy. Her whole body ached and she decided against moving just yet. Mentally, she reached out to Faelan who appeared beside her in her field of vision a moment later. He laid beside her, careful to not actually touch her. The smell of her skin that was slowly healing filled her senses and she resisted the urge to groan.

On her left, she felt Mystogan’s presence and turned her head to look at him watching her with concern in his eyes. He walked over and knelt down to check her over, and she hissed at the pain when he had to move her arms and legs to make sure they were healing okay. When he got back up, she saw a strange blue-ish light pass through him and Faelan answered her silent question.

“He is using a magical barrier to keep everything away from you, to allow you to heal. You’ve been out cold for well over a day.” the wolf’s tone was even and calm, but she could feel his unease at her current state. “I think I might know a way to speed up the healing process as well.” he spoke loud enough that Mystogan could hear as well. “I believe that if you focus on the injury, with a supply of blood, you can use it to heal your wounds. I’m not sure how much blood, but I suppose it would depend on the severity of the wound. Blood gives you my power, but I’m not exactly sure about taking it from other people. I just have vague memories of such a thing from previous Summoners.”

Shio turned her head again to look at Mystogan, who was staring blankly at them both as he knelt on the ground. His eyes moved away from them and he seemed to go into to his own world for a brief moment before they focused back on his companions. Before either of them could react, he walked over and sat down next to her and pulled out a dagger from somewhere in his clothes. In one movement, he dragged the sharp blade across his palm and Shio’s eyes went wide as blood welled in his hand.

“Take his hand, Shio.” Faelan spoke out loud so that Mystogan would know what was going on.

Carefully, they both winced slightly as she grabbed onto his hand, and a strange feeling flooded her body. It was like she already knew what to do, and she closed her eyes and focused on her breathing. As the magic worked, her entire body tingled with healing energy. The sensation of her skin weaving itself new, healthy layers was incredibly weird, but she continued to breath through it.

After a few minutes, she felt Mystogan waver slightly, instinctively let go of his hand and sat up all in one movement. He was down on one knee and used his now free hand to steady himself. He looked pale and she cursed loudly.

“Shit. I am so sorry. I didn't mean to-”

“I know it was not intentional. Even if we are at half strength, we are still a formidable group.” he cut her off and his complimenting words came as a surprise to her.

She had felt for the last few months that she was just fumbling along, kind of like a puppy learning how to play or a baby bird learning to fly. But his comment helped to reinforce that she was actually improving. It gave her a bit of a confidence boost, something which she desperately needed after being knocked out for a day from injury sustained in battle.

“Still...I'm sorry.” she frowned in disappointment with herself and Faelan just sat idly beside her.

Mystogan’s eyes crinkled, so she guessed that he was smiling in an attempt to reassure her that everything was okay. He seemed okay after a moment and stood up, going back to doing whatever he was before. She wasn't fully healed yet and her skin was still reddened and tender, but it was _a lot_ better. It would take her a few days to recover, but then she would be back on her feet and ready to continue their fight with Black Kraken.

Hopefully the fight would not last much longer, as the people she missed were constantly in her thoughts…  


* * *

_  
_ _8 Months Later_

Shio picked up the same smell that she had noticed coming from all Black Kraken members in the last few months. Apparently they had been producing some sort of magic healing potion, that didn't actually work, and selling them to desperate people for everything they had. She had come to memorise the smell and it had been their best lead lately.

Her abilities had been incredibly well-honed to the point where she was fighting on even terms with Mystogan now. They sparred occasionally, and though she was always on the defence, she was at least able to keep up with him now, which was shocking in itself. His long range abilities were incredible, and she didn’t last a chance until she had learnt that she needed to charge forward and avoid them. Her strength was close quarters, but he was still strong there too. His experience and knowledge of her attack patterns allowed him the advantage. She hadn’t won a match against him yet, however she was now able to a bit longer every single time. No longer did they discuss strategy as much as they did at first either. He didn’t need to train her like he used to because she had gotten the hang of it all. It helped that her instincts had been well-developed since her change into Kisan-Aralyn.

For the most part, she had become a formidable and talented mage. She was trained well for taking down the dark guilds and she had decided that after this was over, that she would continue doing this. The young woman hoped that her contribution may help the same thing that happened to her from happening to anyone else. If she was able to prevent another tragedy, then she had a duty to people who couldn’t defend themselves.

Mystogan noticed her expression changed and watched quietly to see if she could get a lock on the direction the scent was coming from. She closed her eyes and concentrated her energy towards strengthening her sense of smell and breathed deeply. Her eyes opened a minute later, blood red, as they did when she used her magic. He could see that she was angry, so he didn’t question her, knowing that she would be frustrated. It had been increasingly hard to track them this far into their mission, and Black Kraken were covering their tracks really well, so he had decided to ask for some extra help from some other talented mages from Fairy Tail. One of them had a very good sense of smell as well.

He hadn’t told Shio about them coming yet, and he was hoping that she wouldn’t lose it. Her temper had been getting gradually shorter lately and it was only going to get more difficult for her. The blue-haired mage had admired her willingness to keep going, regardless of her emotions. She had come so far from the broken and battered girl he carried to the Fairy Tail guild hall all that time ago. She had become a strong-willed, brave and smart woman and it was good to see her pushing forward.

It would probably be around two days until their back-up arrived, so he wanted to try and stay in the same place until they arrived.

The only thing that might stop them is the scent on the wind…

* * *

_Two Days Later…_

Shio was going through some basic forms for her attack patterns as Mystogan did whatever strange things he usually did while she was busy. She stopped asking him what he was doing long ago because there was no point to it, he never answered her. Quite frequently he meditated or was writing things down, so she just left him be. Faelan was laying down, like he normally was. He was such a lazy wolf when they had nothing else to do.

When he raised his scruffy black head, she felt the strange mental bond stretch into her own mind and suddenly knew that something was off. His senses were always better than hers, even with her enhancements. She was only two seconds behind, but her head snapped towards Faelan’s just as he turned to look at her too. He was instantly on his feet and Mystogan was as well. Their early warning system was a big help for him.

It took a few moments for her to realise who it was that was coming toward them, and began storming towards Mystogan, eyes red in fury. Their collective scent made it very obvious who was heading their way, one of them in particular. She could smell Lucy, flowery as usual. Happy, who was more than likely flitting around next to her, smelt like a mix of fish and cat food.

It was the smell of _cold_ \- if ever there was such a thing - that was the one that made her heart stop momentarily.

_Gray…_

“What did you do?!” she hissed at Mystogan, and even though she knew he wouldn’t answer, he didn’t get a chance to because a familiar voice screaming her name beat him to it.

“SSSHHHIIIIOOOOOOO!!!”

Spiky pink hair and white scarf flying behind him came into view amongst the trees. The red in her eyes faded and her jaw dropped as Natsu Dragneel was tearing towards her at full speed. She grunted in pain when he tackled her and had the wind knocked clean out of her. It was very typical of the Dragon Slayer. He would have picked up their scent before they would have smelt his group. Dragons noses were apparently better than wolves.

He let her go and she sat up and coughed for a solid ten seconds as she desperately tried to suck air back into her lungs. His maniacal laughter broke the silence of the forest and she couldn’t help but crack a smile until the other smells flooded her nose again once she caught her breath.

Lucy, Gray and Happy appeared moments later, and she chewed her lip when she saw Gray’s casual stroll, his hands in his jacket pockets. It took a while before she could make out the expressions on their faces, but it was fairly clear that Gray felt awkward. Her eyes flashed red for a second and Faelan’s voice sounded in her head.

_“Calm down, woman.”_ his tone was even, as he didn’t really share her emotions to that extent.

_“Shut it, furry bastard. I have no idea how this is going to go with him. He probably hates me...”_ he just chuckled out loud in response and she glared at him with a snarl. He couldn’t comprehend her emotions the same way she did.

Said furry bastard went over to greet their friends, Lucy in particular because she always scratched behind his ears with her long, manicured fingernails. Shio sighed silently, sitting alone on her rear end, still sore from Natsu’s overly affectionate greeting. She felt Mystogan’s gaze and she looked up at him and pursed her lips in a silent apology for her earlier outburst. Obviously he had asked them to come here so that they could help. She shook her head at her short fuse. He nodded almost imperceptibly in understanding.

“Hey guys.” Lucy’s melodic tone was practically music to her ears. She hadn’t seen her friend in such a long time, and she was glad to see her. “Shio, why are you on the ground?”

“Hah! I tackled her to say hello.” Natsu piped up and put his arm over Lucy’s shoulder, threw his head back and laughed loudly. Lucy rolled her large, brown eyes at him and Shio huffed before she stood up.

Gray waved awkwardly and scratched the back of his head. Shio forced a smile and tried to think of a fake excuse to leave the area before she began crying due to her anxiety regarding the ice mage.

Luckily, the smell she had come to memorise back to front appeared abruptly. She looked at Natsu who obviously smelt it too and the Dragon Slayer wouldn’t have known that it was an important scent, but the urgency in her voice said it all.

“Natsu.”

They broke into a full pelt run and the rest of them followed behind, but nowhere near as fast as the Dragon Slayer and Kisan-Aralyn. Shio focused on transforming herself as she ran and her muscles in her legs increased so she would get faster. Natsu was barely ahead of her, but they were neck-a-neck as they saw a random guy walking on a path through the forest.

Shio growled from a place within her that she barely recognised, and transformed some strength to her arms, changing her nails into sharp claws. Natsu slowed down and watched with worry as she swung a right hook at the man’s head, knocking him clean off his feet and landed flat on the ground. She didn’t let up and picked him up by the throat, one handed and slammed him against a tree.

Before her fist collided with his face again, Natsu’s uncharacteristically firm voice stopped her. The only reason she knew it was him was because the others hadn’t arrived yet.

“Shio! That’s enough.”

Her scowl was her first response, but it resonated within her rational side enough for her to snap out of it. She could feel that she was still furious so she let the man go, and he crumpled on the ground. Everyone else had caught up and she tried to breathe, but her fists clenched and she knew that she had to get away.

So, she turned and left.

Gray instinctively went to follow her, and Mystogan placed a hand on his shoulder to tell him not to. The stoic man shook his head and the ice mage shifted his weight back to signal that he had given up on going after her. Faelan stayed with them, knowing Shio would get his attention if she needed him. The wolf could feel her inner turmoil and knew that she just needed time. Her emotions were tumultuous lately, and some time to herself would be good for her.

“She’ll be fine.” Faelan said just loud enough for them all to hear.

The ice mage was rather confused by all of this. From the moment he saw Shio, he even surprised himself with the incredible soar of feeling within him, although he felt awkward. How happy he felt when he saw her, and how much he wanted to be close to her again. But he also recalled how she left, without a word and hadn’t returned or tried to contact him for just over a year. It wasn’t something he could just get past in a few hours. He was glad to see that she was safe, regardless of the situation.

Lucy had used the time that he was thinking with to tie up their prisoner and they began walking back to camp, Natsu carrying the unconscious man over his shoulder. Gray walked behind them, not even noticing Faelan falling into step next to him. He put his hands in his pockets and scuffed his feet, and frowned at the dirt moving around him.

“Gray.” Faelan’s voice startled him, causing him to flinch a little. “Sorry. You doing okay?”

“Uh...yeah. I’m okay.” he did not sound convincing and stared pointedly in front of him, still feeling the wolf’s questioning gaze.

“Is it about Shio?” Faelan wasn’t going to give up that easily.

“...maybe…” his voice was a whisper, barely loud enough for the wolf to hear.

As much as an animal could, he gave Gray an accepting gaze and shrugged his shoulders. It was sort of strange, but Gray got the feeling that if he wanted to talk, Faelan would listen. He didn’t really feel like ranting, deciding that focusing on finishing their mission would be a better idea. Maybe he could talk to her about it when they settled in for the night...

* * *

Mystogan had found them a small abandoned cabin in the middle of nowhere, that seemed to be a hunting cabin in it’s past life. They had all settled in, but it had been a lot quieter until Shio had returned. Regardless of Faelan’s reassurance, they were all still concerned for her anyway. Lucy and Natsu had claimed the bed and Natsu’s light snoring was the only thing aside from the crackling fire breaking the silence. Mystogan seemed to be meditating, Faelan was asleep and Gray was seated near the fire on a very old stool. Shio had taken up her place in the darkest corner of the cabin, and was intending on staying there for as long as possible. She didn’t get her wish, as Gray had other ideas.

“Shio, can I speak to you outside please?” Gray asked in his usual calm tone.

Though she looked awkward, she followed behind him as they went to stand on the front porch of the cabin. The silence was palpable, and he watched as Shio’s eyes narrowed and she held up her hand.

“Just one second.”

She grabbed a pebble from the ground, and threw it into the open window, and they both heard a canine’s yelp of surprise. She exhaled forcefully through her nose in what was a small gesture of amusement before she turned back to him. He raised an eyebrow in question.

“Sorry, someone was listening in.” she tapped her pointer finger to her temple, telling him that Faelan was eavesdropping on them from inside her head, which was totally weird for him, but he knew it was normal for her.

“I wanted to talk to you about what happened when you left.” Gray felt very awkward asking her about all this, but he needed some closure about it all. It wouldn’t make working together any easier if they didn’t sort this out.

Her shoulders dropped and she willed her eyes not to well up with tears. “There’s no need...the damage is done.” her voice was wavering very obviously, though she tried not to.

“Something isn’t right though. I can’t just pretend to not notice.” his brow furrowed together as he watched her slink further into her despair. “Please tell me.” she looked up at him and took a deep breath.

“The day I left...I went to get some groceries and when I got back there was a note on the counter. I asked Faelan if anyone was there, but he said that no one came and he was asleep the whole time. Mystogan left the note, which explains why neither of you knew he was there.” Gray nodded in understanding. “The note said that he had started to track down Black Kraken and offered for me to help him take them down. He said to meet him in the guild gardens after dark, and sun had gone down an hour earlier. I knew that if I didn’t go I would regret it forever. I also knew that if I tried to wake you to say goodbye that I wouldn’t leave. Either that or you would try to come with me in your broken state. I couldn’t bare the thought of you pushing yourself so hard for me.”

Her admission tugged at his heartstrings. “So I tried to leave you a note. I explained as much as I could in the note, but you wouldn’t have been able to read it anyway, which I didn’t know at the time.”

“What do you mean I wouldn’t have been able to read it?” he tilted his head in confusion.

“The paper I wrote on was the same paper Mystogan’s note was on. I figured that if you saw both my note and his, then you would know that I didn’t just get angry and run off to fight a dark guild. What I didn’t realise was the paper was enchanted. The only person who was able to read what was on the paper was me, since I was the person the original note was intended for.” she shrugged, half out of lingering frustration, and half out of feeling like an idiot.

“Enchanted paper?” he asked incredulously, not that he thought she would lie, but it just seemed really unfortunate for that to be the case.

“Yep. Enchanted fucking paper.” she shook her head but continued, “I’m sorry that a piece of paper caused all this. But now you know.”

Her thoughts turned to when Mystogan had told her about the paper, and she took a breath to try and repress the frustration that came with it. She could hear the sounds of the river she was near when she found out and her mind drifted briefly...

_Shio was sitting by the edge of the small river and sobbing quietly. Faelan had left her alone, but Mystogan obviously didn’t have the mental link to check on her with and came to look for her after she had been gone for over an hour. When he found her, he saw her with her knees under her chin and arms wrapped around her bent legs._

_“Shio…” he said simply, not being good with words. He wasn’t sure of whether he should ask her if she was okay, lest it make her sorrow worse by bringing it up._

_“I’ll be okay. I’m just upset about leaving the guild behind. I hope they understand why I left.” she sniffled and spoke in a husky voice, but she was already starting to calm down._

_“Who did you tell before you left?” he asked quietly, sitting down next to her with his legs crossed. He already knew that she wasn’t just talking about the guild in general, but most of her anguish was leaving Gray behind. Faelan had told him that Shio had developed strong feelings for the ice mage in the few months since Fairy Tail had taken her in._   
  
_“I left a note for Gray. He was sleeping in my dorm room at Fairy Hills and I didn’t want to wake him up. He would have seen your note too, so I just hope he understood.”_

_Mystogan’s dark eyes went wide as she mentioned his note. He hadn’t heard that before. “He wouldn’t have been able to read the note I left for you. It was on enchanted paper, so only you could have read it.”_

_Shio’s expression deadpan and slowly contort into something in between confusion, panic, and fear. “But...but I wrote my note to him on the same paper. Does that mean he wouldn’t have been able to read it?” her bottom lip began to quiver when he didn’t answer her question. She finally turned to him, with her reddening eyes glassy from tears. “Please...tell me he was able to read it...please.”_

_The only thing breaking the silence was the sounds of the water lapping against the riverbank, and a light breeze blowing around them. Shio’s breathing began to heave as her despair heightened all over again._

_“Fuck....” she sobbed and buried her head in her arms._

_“I’m sorry Shio.” Mystogan was stuck for what he should do until he saw Faelan gesture for him to walk with him._

The perspective change always felt strange as she looked through Faelan’s eyes.

_He caught up to the wolf who was also sad, and not just because his companion was upset, but also because of the unfortunate coincidence that had arisen._

_“Don’t worry, she knows it wasn’t your fault. She’s just upset. She’s worried that the life she began to build in Magnolia is ruined now. She’s scared that if she goes back, Gray will hate her for leaving and everyone else will hate her for hurting Gray. It’s not like she has anywhere else to go, so she’s just...yeah…” Faelan tried to explain the best he could, but he could only repeat the thoughts he could feel from Shio, not so much interpret and understand her emotions._

_“She said to me that Gray knew what was happening when she met up with me in Magnolia. She didn’t mention the note, or the paper. If I had known…” Mystogan began, but trailed off, not actually knowing if he could have made a difference no matter what he did. “It’s almost 7 months since we left now. It’s not abnormal for guild members to be away on jobs for months at a time, me especially, but if no one else knew that she is with me, they must be worried sick...I’ll have to write to Master Makarov straight away.” Mystogan went back to their camp and Faelan left him be, going to check on Shio._

_Meanwhile, Shio cried with everything she had, her tears falling on the damp riverbank..._

She went to turn away but his voice stopped her. “Where are you going?”

“I am almost certain that telling you the circumstances isn’t going to make up for over a year of you sitting in Magnolia, wondering what the fuck happened.” he knew that the frustration in her voice wasn’t directed at him, but the situation itself. He saw her glassy eyes and held her gaze. “It doesn’t matter any more.”

“Shio...It’s not going to disappear straight away -”

“Like I said, the damage is done.”

Before he could stop her, she turned away. She knew that he was calling out to her, but she kept going, not breaking her gait. She was Kisan-Aralyn, Summoner of the Unknown. She was basically part wolf, for fairies sake. Her best friend was a direwolf who she paid in blood to hang around and lend her his powers. Her abilities were fueled by blood too. Keeping people around her that she cared about would only get them caught up in her primal rage one day, and she couldn’t bare the thought of lashing out and hurting someone. What if she got mad in the middle of the markets in Magnolia and began to rampage with no one strong enough to stop her? Could Erza, Mirajane, or even Laxus stop her if she fully transformed?

It was an unacceptable result of her being what she was. Though she had made peace with her changes a long time ago, she wasn’t about to let innocent people, especially her loved ones get sucked into the whirlwind that was her. If she was with Gray, as a couple, they were bound to argue someday. However, most couples didn’t physically lash out at each other as a result of their anger, like she was at risk of doing. If she hurt him, she would never forgive herself.

So, if she went and picked off dark guilds, she wouldn’t have to worry about innocent people getting caught in the crossfire. She could use her abilities and do the same thing that Mystogan did, and use her skills for good. Make sure that the same tragedy that happened to her never happened to anyone else.

She knew that if she told Gray her reasoning, he would probably try and talk her out of it, or tell her that he would come with her. Magnolia was his home, and Fairy Tail his family. What if he came with her and he ended up resenting her for it? It would break her heart to see him homesick, and missing his loved ones in the guild. If she was away for months or more at a time, it just wasn’t going to work between them. Not only that, if she lost control and he got in the way...she didn’t even want to think about that.

A female voice called out to her from her right, and she turned to see Lucy there, brown eyes wide with concern. Maybe she heard what happened and was worried. The blonde approached Shio, who stopped walking after spotting her.

“Shio...are you okay?” her soft voice was full of concern and Shio appreciated it so much.

“I just spoke with Gray about what happened when I left Magnolia.” she spoke quietly, and her voiced trembled with repressed emotion.

“What did happen? We were all so worried that you took off after Black Kraken or something.”

“I only learnt a while ago, but while I was out after you guys left that day, Mystogan dropped in a note about an offer to take down Black Kraken with him. I knew I would regret it if I didn't. So I left, but I wrote a note to Gray on the same piece of paper that Mystogan’s note was on. The paper was enchanted and _only I_ was able to read anything written on it, and that's why no one knew what happened. I didn't mean to leave you all in the dark.” she sighed long and slow.

“Shio, it's not your fault that we didn't know. You did the right thing leaving a note, and you couldn't have known the paper was enchanted. Don't beat yourself up over it.” Lucy was trying to be supportive, but Shio had already made up her mind.

“I know that you are right, but I should have done more. Written to you guys or something. I was too scared that I would be too homesick and come back, but then regret not finishing what I started.”

“What did Gray say to you after you told him?”

“I didn't really give him a chance to respond. It's not a good idea for us to be together anyway...and I've decided to continue taking down dark guilds after I finish this.” she wasn't sure how the blonde was going to take the news and waited to hear her try and talk her out of it.

“Shio the dark guild destroyer, hey? It's got a good ring to it. As long as you are careful and call us for backup if you need it, then I support you 100 percent.” Lucy smiled brightly at her friend who was surprised by her open mindedness. “You have to promise to come home whenever you can. And you can stay with me too if you like. Save you sleeping on a lumpy matress in the guild hall.”

Lucy saw the relieved shock on Shio’s face and gave her dear friend a warm hug, which Shio returned with a sniffle. She was surprised how understanding Lucy was being, but at the same time, she realised she should have expected such a response. Lucy was a smart, kind and honest person and she was so glad to have such a wonderful and compassionate friend.

“Thank you Lucy.”

“Not a problem. However, I do need a favour from you in return.” a strange glint was in her brown eyes and Shio was suspicious.

“You need to make up with Gray. He has been moping around and dying slowly from stress of not knowing where you are. As much as he thinks no one has noticed, he's a terrible actor. I'm not saying you have to get married and ride off into the sunset and live happily ever after. I'm saying you need to at least become friends again.” her words tugged at Shio’s heartstrings and she felt so bad for Gray.

“What if he doesn't want to be ‘just friends’? I can't be in a relationship with someone if I'm away fighting all the time. Not only that, I still cannot fully control my powered and I won't put the people in Magnolia in danger like that.” Shio rubbed her hands over her face and up through her hair.

“You won't hurt anyone. Just try your best to be friends with Gray at least, he's been really worried. Let him know that you have been doing okay and tell him about your plan.”

Lucy rubbed her hand on Shio’s arm and left her with her thoughts…

The scent came around again the next morning, before Shio could talk to Gray, and they tracked down the source to a small abandoned farmhouse a few hours from where they had met up. Natsu’s Dragon slayer nose had made tracking them down much easier than before. Faelan’s was good, but Natsu's put his to shame, and even though he grumbled about it, Shio could feel that he was glad for the help.

After they had formed their plan of attack, Shio took up her position and waited for the signal. Gray and Natsu were going in first, being the short to middle range powerhouses of the group. As usual, Mystogan and Faelan would block off any escapees and Lucy would enter with Shio after the Black Kraken members inside had been taken off guard by the ice mage and Dragon Slayer. Once they charged in, Lucy and Shio went in a few seconds later.

There was roughly 8 of them inside, and they were all easy to deal with. It was a fairly routine attack until Shio spotted Gray almost get overwhelmed by a sudden attack from his left and she leapt into action and got in between the enemy and Gray, hoping to prevent him from taking the full force of the attack. This mage was at least 4 times stronger than all the others, more than likely being the one in charge of this base.

Intense pain rippled down her right side, but her momentum kept her going towards the enemy and she managed to use her left hand to claw open his chest. He fell with a heavy thud and coughed up blood on the tiled floor, while Shio caught her breath. She cradled her right arm with her left, feeling like her shoulder was either dislocated, or her arm was broken. Possibly both. That wasn’t her main concern as she turned to the ice mage.

“Are you alright?” she asked breathlessly, voice wavering from the pain.

Gray just stared at her wide-eyed at nodded. He saw her take the brunt of the attack, but she seemed to be okay, for the most part. Lucy joined them and Shio made sure that she was okay as well. Faelan came in the front door as fast as he could, limping from their shared pain, and his jaw dropped seeing the damage the attack had done to his friend.

“Sh-Shio...your arm…” he managed to choke out his words as best he could. Since he was standing on her right, he could see the full extent of her wound.

The black haired girl looked at him for a moment, and then down to her arm and shoulder. Blood was dripping on the floor, and it had soaked the right side of her shirt. Her reddened eyes were beginning to fade, and she stared, slowly realising that it was her horribly mangled shoulder she was staring at. Shock began to set in, and both Gray and Lucy noticed she went white as a sheet all of a sudden, and saw the blood soaking her clothes.

“I’m a bit light-headed.” Shio spoke in a whisper, and vaguely heard Gray and Lucy call out to her, Natsu’s voice joining them a moment later.

All went black...

* * *

Faded-red eyes cracked open slowly to see a strange ceiling above her, one she sort of recognised. Pain radiated through her as she recalled what happened. Most of it was gone, but she did remember seeing Gray stumble and her instincts kicked in as she flash stepped in front of him to stop him from getting hit. Her shoulder was covered with a cloth and she knew that it was going to be messy.

Shio moved the piece of damp cloth, stained red with blood, that was covering her wound. Faelan had probably told them that she would be able to heal herself and close the wound as soon as she was awake, so there wasn’t much point in wrapping it up once the bleeding had stopped. She carefully lifted it away and almost passed out at the sight of it. It seemed that the majority of the wound had been cauterised and it looked horrible. There was a small section of white, and she shuddered as she realised that it was her bone. If she didn’t know any better, she would have thought that she had got caught in a meat grinder. It made her glad that she had taken the hit instead of Gray. She shifted as best she could to sit up a bit.

It took her a moment, but after she replaced the cloth, she realised the dark patch of hair on the bed was Gray’s head. He was asleep with his arms folded underneath him. She hadn't noticed him until she had moved. Though she felt horrible, a smile still came across her face, seeing the ice mage sleeping soundly next to her.

Faelan padded softly in the room, sensing that she was awake and he spoke to her through their link to ensure they didn’t wake Gray.

“How’s the shoulder?” he sounded happy to see her, and she smiled at the scruffy wolf.

“Fucked up, wolfy. I’m going to need some blood or this won’t get better any time soon.”

“I don’t doubt that Gray will help with that when he wakes up. He hasn’t left your side.”

“Really?” her expression of shock matched the voice in her and Faelan’s head.

“Yeah. He’s been talking to you while you’ve been unconscious.” He moved to the right side of the bed, ensuring to move quietly, and sat down.

“What’s he been saying?” Shio’s heart leapt into her throat at the news, and hoped that it would be good news.

Faelan replayed a memory in her head, allowing her to see what had happened when she was asleep. The image wasn't perfect and it was from his perspective, but the sound of the ice mage's voice filled her mind, and gave her hope again. Hope that maybe it wasn't too late for them.

_“Shio. I know you can't hear me, but I wanted to tell you something…” she saw from Faelan’s perspective as his shoulders rose and fall as he breathed deeply. “I-I missed you every single day since I woke up in your apartment alone. I stayed there for another two weeks and paid your rent for two more months before I ran out of money. I missed seeing your smile, and I missed how you would look at me. Every time the guild hall doors would open, I would hope with everything I had that it was you. I would wake up of a night, and hope that you would be asleep beside me, and that it was all a dream. I only took short jobs just in case you came back because I was worried you might leave before I returned.”_

_He ran his hands through his hair, and even though she could only see his profile, she could see that he looked exhausted. He rubbed his eyes with the heels of his palms and continued speaking._

_“Please, you can’t die without me getting the chance to tell you how I really feel. I tried to tell myself that I had gotten over you, but I was wrong. Come back, Shio. Please…” he put his head in his hands, and she could hear his shaky breaths._

The images faded out, and she pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration at her stupidity. There was a physical ache in her chest, and she looked down at him, sleeping silently on the edge of her bed. Even as he slept, his brow was pulled together as if his emotions were plaguing him while he rested. Cursing to herself, she tried to will the pain in her chest to go away. Her shoulder being shredded to ribbons was pain enough, she didn’t need the heartache along with it. Unfortunately, it had no intention of listening to her, or going away anytime soon.

Gray began to stir next to her and a shadow of a smile appeared on her face as he slowly sat up, his dark eyes focusing on her. When he was awake enough to realise that she was conscious, he stood up, his chair going flying backwards with the force.  
  
“Shio!” he sounded so relieved, his voice raspy from sleep. He looked like he wanted to hug her, but he knew that wasn’t an option right now, so he settled for carefully holding her hand instead. He smiled for the first time since they reunited.

“Hey.” her voice was barely a whisper, and he could hear that she was in a lot of pain. She smirked faintly, seeing one side of his hair fluffed up from sleeping on it.

“Is there anything I can do for you?”

“Uh, there is actually.” he noticed the strange expression on her face, and waited for her to continue. “I learned how to speed up healing my wounds while I’ve been away, among other things. The problem is...that I need...blood to do it.” she frowned, not really liking the idea of asking him to donate his blood to her when this was the first time he seemed happy to see her.

Without another word, he created a small piece of ice, and used it to slit his wrist open in one swift movement. She cursed at his lack of hesitation and grabbed his wrist with her good hand, and closed her eyes. Her breathing evened out, and Gray watched her in silence as the flesh began to stitch itself back together. Shio’s quiet, pained cries made him frown, and he began to feel light headed after a minute. She pulled her hand away, feeling him start to waver. Faelan pushed the seat back from the other side of the room, and he all but fell backwards into it.

They made eye contact, dark eyes into bright red ones, and Shio looked down to see less exposed muscle and flesh. It was nowhere near healed, but it was better at least. A moment later, Lucy, Natsu, Happy and Mystogan came in the room, feeling the surge of magic. Lucy, Natsu and the Exceed smiled happily when they saw her awake. Mystogan was his usual mysterious self, and leaned against the doorframe, the shadows on his mask told her that he was smiling too.

“Natsu, give me your hand.” Gray spoke but Shio didn’t want any more of them giving blood. Mystogan had probably given her litres worth since she had learnt the skill, and enough was enough. The wound would heal a lot faster now anyway.

“It’s fine, Gray. Really. I don’t want to take blood from everyone.” Shio waved him off, but Natsu didn’t seem to mind and stood next to Gray, giving the ice mage his hand.

They both ignored her protests as Gray cut Natsu’s palm and the Dragon Slayer walked over to her bedside and took a hold of her hand, smiling the whole time. He grinned when she reluctantly began to concentrate, and her friends watched as more of her shoulder knitted back together. She pulled back before Natsu got dizzy, and thanked him sincerely.

Lucy appeared from behind Natsu’s form and she held out her hand as well, and Shio shook her head and took a hold. When she let go, the wound was almost healed. The only signs of the injury was the reddened skin that had just been put back together. She wouldn’t be able to fight or move around much for a few days yet, but it was definitely going to save her weeks of down time. Mystogan caught her gaze, and she shook her head to tell him that he didn’t need to join in as well.

“Thank you guys, so much. I-I cannot tell you how much I appreciate this.” they all shared a smile.

“I’ll get us some food.” Mystogan spoke just loudly enough for them to hear before he disappeared.

Shio, no longer in complete agony, couldn't keep her eyes open and fell back to sleep...


	13. Shadows

**Chapter 13 - Shadows**

"Ah, shit!" Shio cursed quietly as she tried to get up from the bed she had been stuck in for two days now. She desperately needed to use the bathroom, but everyone was asleep and she didn't want to wake up anyone to ask for help.

Gray was immediately up and standing next to her, since he had taken to sleeping on the small couch in the bedroom, so he could stay near her. She had tried to get up too fast and got light headed in the process, leading to her trying to catch herself on the bed and used both her good and bad arm. Her eyes were closed tightly, and her jaw clenched from the pain and she took a few shaky breaths until it died down. She tilted her head back, and opened her eyes, looking directly at Gray's dark eyes, barely illuminated by the moonlight through the window.

"Thank you." she whispered quietly, trying to avoid waking the rest of the house up.

The young woman shook her head, frustrated with herself, but she was still happy to have put herself in this position, rather than watch Gray go through this. Wendy wasn't here, so she couldn't heal him, but she could heal herself faster than he could. Their prisoner had been taken by the Rune Knights while she was asleep and Mystogan was waiting for word from them regarding his interrogation. The leads on Black Kraken that they would hopefully get from him would be all they had at the moment, so it did give her a chance to rest. She just hated being stationary for so long. Even though it was only a few days, it was still annoying her that she couldn't just go out and look around for leads.

She had been hunting Black Kraken for a year now, and the last time she had to stop and rest was when she fought the acid-covered mage months ago. It had driven her mad then too, but she was in much more widespread pain that time and could barely move at all. At least she could go to the toilet without too much discomfort with this injury. Even eating was difficult last time, but she could at least feed herself now. Lucy and Erza had gotten some food to last them the next few days, at least long enough for her to be healed, so they were moderately comfortable in the small cabin, regardless of the lack of beds. The water heater was broken, but conveniently enough, their Fire Dragon Slayer had solved that problem. The ice mage was making sure that all their cold food was sorted out too.

Carefully, Shio stood up, Gray's arm was around her waist, and he pulled her good arm over his shoulder and helped her to the bathroom. It was only small, and she nodded to him that she would be fine and shut the door behind her. Her mind and heart raced at the feeling of him being so close to her and she willed herself to be calm and collected when she emerged from the bathroom. He gave her a small smile and just used her good arm to hold onto his right shoulder and walk next to him. Once she sat back down on the bed, she shooed him away and whispered to him to go back to sleep. He lingered for a moment, but left her be.

Once she got comfortable again, she tried to sleep, but knew it wouldn't come easily. So she simply laid there, and focused on her magic. When she found sleep wouldn't take her, she would always meditate and practice melding herself with Faelan in her mind. She hoped that this would stave off any unexpected transformations, and any unnecessary temper tantrums. Her fuse was incredible short already, and she didn't need it to be any worse. Though Shio didn't know if it was actually making a difference, she just hoped that it was.

Calmly, she mentally melted the ball that represented herself into the darker, furrier one that was Faelan's. It was such a strange feeling to her for many months after she had become Kisan-Aralyn, but now it was so natural to the point where she felt a void when she blocked Faelan out completely. She presumed that was normal, as they were a part of each other now and had been increasing the strength of their bond for a long time now.

Her bond with Mystogan had gotten stronger too. They barely needed to communicate in the midst of battle now, they just knew each other's style and thought process so well. She could sense him, and knew that if an enemy tried to escape, he would stop them and she would chase them into him. He knew that her short range abilities were strong enough to withstand almost anything now, and had swapped opponents with her before so that they were better matched. It had only taken a quick glance and nod for her to understand what he was doing, which made it all the more difficult for their enemies to figure out their tactics. Their minimal communication meant that they always had the upper hand, because they could read each other so well.

She would be eternally grateful for what he had done for her, and for helping her become strong and confident. She doubted that there was anything she could do to repay him, but she occasionally thanked him out of nowhere, when she suddenly became awash with appreciation. When she thanked him, his eyes would crinkle, and she knew that he was smiling. Though he never replied, she knew that he was happy to have her around. They didn't really talk, but they still enjoyed each other's company anyway. Maybe it was the fact that Shio didn't have to hide her true self from him, and because he didn't have to have consistent conversations since Shio understood that he was introverted. Whatever they did, it just worked for them.

Now that Team Natsu had come to back them up, she knew that her mission would be wrapping up soon, and she would have to start targeting another dark guild. She didn't know if her and Mystogan would stay together and fight them, or if they would go their separate ways, but that was a question for when all of this was over.

After a while of meditating, she became tired again and fell into a fitful sleep, where nightmares of blood, death and darkness lurked in every corner.

* * *

_Shio…...Shio….wake up…._

_The voice in her mind was familiar, but she couldn't put her finger on who it belonged to. She was still tired and fought the urge to wake up as best she could. Unfortunately, her mind had other ideas. Creatures soaked with blood crawled out of their dark corners and she saw herself being attacked by them all simultaneously, unable to defend herself for reasons unknown. One of them grabbed her the throat and shook her. She knew that her neck would break with the force if they continued and tried to scream._

"Shio, wake up!"

Suddenly aware of a figure hovering over her, she grabbed their wrist, almost hard enough to break it, and clutched a clawed hand onto their throat, eyes burning red with fire. A fierce growl emanated from her and her eyes finally came into focus. Gray's face appeared, his dark eyes wide with shock and pain as she realised that it was his throat she had a hold of so tightly.

Her hands pulled away and became human again quicker than she could think and her eyes filled with tears as her irises faded back to her usual washed-out red, willing her magic away. She blinked them away and saw that Gray's wrist and throat were blotching with bruises already as he coughed, trying desperately to catch his breath. Her hands began to shake with fear and she tried to speak, tried to apologise, but her sobs stopped her.

She couldn't think of anything else to do, so as fast as she could she stood up and ran away. She got as far away as she could while she clutched her bad arm to her chest. It had been that arm that had reached out to grab Gray's throat, although she hadn't realised it was him at the time, but it hurt a lot. But it didn't hurt anywhere near as much as the realisation that she had hurt Gray. The image of his mottled wrist and bruised throat plagued her mind and forced her to walk further.

**See what happens when you try to care about people? You just hurt them. You don't need them. You just need to let go and accept me.**

The words came from the corner of her mind that she no longer recognised as her own. She knew that it belonged to her fully-transformed self, the one that haunted her dreams and stopped her from sleeping properly. The one who had put her so on edge that she had lashed out and hurt someone she cared for.

As much as she knew the voice was wrong, part of her was beginning to agree with it. This was exactly the reason that she wanted to stay away from Gray, keep him as a friend, and stay away from Magnolia. What if one day she was too exhausted to fight it off and it took a hold of her? She knew that it was a violent and unforgiving entity, and it would tear anyone apart, friend or foe. It was that moment she feared the most, that moment and that fear made her keep her friends she had been reunited with at a distance. Probably why she hadn't tried to become closer friends with Mystogan either.

Shio sat down next to a small river, with no idea how long she had been running for. It could have been minutes or even hours. She bent her knees and pulled them close to her chest and buried her head in them, hands coming to rest on the back of her head. All she wanted was for the world to come and swallow her up and let her escape the horror of what she had just done to someone she cared for. If Gray didn't hate her for leaving for over a year without a word to him, surely he would now.

There was a physical pain in her chest and her mind was screaming at her in so many different voices that she could barely hear the voice that she knew was her own, not influenced by Faelan, or any other force related to being Kisan-Aralyn. Finally, a voice she knew was rational drowned out the rest.

It was Faelan.

" _Shio! I'm here. Just breathe, I'm coming."_ she could hear that he was on his way, and that he was tracking her via smell and the feel of their bond.

A few moments later he skidded to a stop next to her. Her eyes were wide with shock and she was shaking like a leaf. He nuzzled her head and tried to get her to look at him, but for the moment he settled for her putting a hand on his head. She didn't move it, but he knew that was the best he was going to get until she began to calm down.

It was at least another ten minutes before she lifted her head up, her eyes were bloodshot, but her irises were red as well and Faelan knew that it was the dark side of their shared mind that was doing this to her. Gray had told him what happened, and he knew as soon as he peered into Shio's mind that she was losing her hold. From what he knew, the full transformation was avoided by many Summoners because of the dangers it posed, but he wasn't aware that it caused them horrible nightmares and mild schizophrenia. Maybe it was why a lot of them had died so young, giving him very few memories and ideas of what it was like being The Summoned.

"Shio. I know you don't want to talk, so please just listen." he wasn't sure why he was speaking out loud, but maybe it was to make sure that the other voices wouldn't block him out. "I believe that you are being harassed by the violent and dark side of our mind because you have not fully transformed. Doing that requires you to accept all parts of what you are, and it is practically impossible to all the darkness out. I don't know how to stop it or fix it. I'm sorry I can't be of more help, but I don't seem to have anything in my memories of past lives that gives us the answers." Faelan's voice was slightly shaky, feeling how terrified she was in their shared consciousness. He was so worried about her.

She finally looked straight at him and nodded almost imperceptibly. "I know, and I don't expect you to know everything about what's happening with me. It's okay." she scratched behind his ears and gave him a sad smile.

They sat in silence for a while, just being there for each other as Faelan sifted through his mind to try and figure out what he could do to help alleviate Shio's pain. He came to the conclusion that continuing to try and shut out her darker side would only make this worse. Maybe it was better off for them to try a full transformation. He was concerned that if she lost it accidentally fighting Black Kraken, that she would cut down her friends to get through to them, in her rage. It might be a better idea to do it in a controlled environment with Mystogan using his magic to stop them moving should they not be able to control themselves. Although that would mean their death.

"Shio, maybe we should try a full transformation." her eyes went wide as her head snapped to look at him. "Hear me out. This might all be happening because you are trying to fight against our nature, instead of accepting it and simply letting it out when you are able to. If we complete our transformation, we will have a much stronger mental bond and may be able to ensure that we can control ourselves. Either that, or we lose it and our friends have to kill us to save us from ourself. If you lost it halfway through a fight with Black Kraken, I'm worried you wouldn't be able to tell friend from foe." he didn't need to continue his sentence for her to know what he meant.

"I don't have very many memories of the process because I don't think many Summoners lived long enough to attempt it. I think that some of them may have actually committed suicide because they were so haunted by the voices in their head, but they didn't want to fully transform and risk losing control and hurting people. But I can't be sure. I only have a couple of recollections of Kisan-Aralyns who actually died of old age or in battle. So I think if we at least attempt it, we either gain control, or die in the process, meaning that none of our friends get killed by us, should we lose our sanity suddenly."

Her eyes were still wide, but he could feel that she understood his words. He shared her desire to protect their friends, whether it meant protecting them from Black Kraken or themselves. His logic was plausible at least, and they didn't really have many options. The frequency of her nightmares was increasing, and the voices through the day were only getting louder. Maybe it was worth a try, at least while the strongest of Fairy Tail were here to stop them should they lose control. She trusted her friends to kill her if she wasn't able to maintain her sanity.

After a few deep breaths, she nodded in agreement. She went to stand, and he helped her up the best he could. She knew that she would have to face Gray and apologise to him properly, instead of the broken sobs she spluttered earlier. No one had come to find them yet, so she figured that Faelan had told them to stay away. Desperately, she hoped that they weren't angry with her for hurting Gray, and that they wouldn't hate her.

Once she started walking back, Mystogan's scent was in the air. He was waiting for them and she approached him cautiously. Without hesitation, he walked up to her and stood in front of her, closer than she expected someone to after she had almost killed one of their guild mates. There was no anger in him, but instead he seemed almost sad for her. He placed a hand on her good arm and the shadows on his mask told her that he was trying to smile.

"Are you okay?" his even, soft voice was relaxing to her ears, after finally managing to stop the screaming in her head.

"Mmm. Is Gray alright?" her voice was slightly raspy and she waited for him to respond.

"He's fine. He knows it wasn't intentional as well, so no need to worry about that." he answered her silent question calmly. He seemed to know exactly what was on her mind, which wasn't surprising since they had spent everyday together for over a year now.

She nodded and took a breath, preparing to tell him her plan. "So, I'm thinking that Faelan and I will attempt a full transformation. All of this is stemming from me trying to suppress the side of me that is chaotic and violent, and if we successfully transform and maintain control, we think that it won't be a problem any more."

"And if not?" his tone suggested he knew this was a loaded question, and was looking more for confirmation, rather than an answer. Her even gaze was enough to answer his question and he nodded faintly. "Are you sure this is what you want to do?"

"I think it's the only plausible option I have. I want to protect the innocent, and my friends, not kill them because I lose my mind and view everyone as my enemy. I'm too scared of hurting one of you...again." she added as an afterthought, knowing that she would have to accept that reality eventually, no matter how much it upset her. "If not, and you kill me, then at least I know that I won't hurt anyone anymore. I trust you to strike me down if I cannot maintain control."

He stared at her for a long moment, and appeared satisfied with her resolve. He patted her arm, his hand still hadn't left it, and then they walked back to the cabin together. She knew she had put a great burden on him, but it would be on her friends too. Neither Shio or Faelan had no idea how much stronger they would become when they fully transformed, so it might take all of their friends to stop them.

The walk back to the cabin was short, though it was mostly because Shio was lost in her thoughts, staring at the ground as they made their way back. Lucy was waiting out the front, and her expression changed from worried to relieved as they came into sight. So far it seemed that Lucy didn't hate her, so that was a good start.

"I'm so glad you're okay! We've all been so worried, but Faelan told us not to come after you, so we stayed put." Lucy hugged her and Shio awkwardly returned the embrace, surprised that the blonde wasn't afraid of her. When Lucy pulled back, she smiled knowingly, and gestured for her to come inside.

Erza, Natsu and Gray were sitting in the living area/kitchen/dining room, and they all looked pleased to see her. She almost broke down in tears seeing the blue and purple marks on Gray's throat, but she breathed through it and willed them away. She needed to tell them what the plan was, before her resolve disappeared. Mystogan sat down at the table, and Lucy followed suit, and it seemed they were all waiting for Shio to talk, sensing that she had something to say.

"I don't really know where to start with all this…" she stared at the table, took a few breaths and scrunched her nose up in hesitation but continued anyway. "Since I became Kisan-Aralyn, I have experienced nightmares that cause me to wake up screaming, and voices in my head that have been getting louder and louder lately. Faelan believes that it is because I am suppressing the violent side of what I have become. These voices and nightmares are only getting worse, and they will slowly drive me mad, which will cause me to transform completely, whether I want to or not. By that stage, I would not be able to regain control and I would raze cities to the ground, no matter who tried to stop me." Faelan nuzzled her leg with his head, trying to give her the strength to keep speaking.

"The only option, aside from gradually losing my mind, is to attempt a full transformation. Since you are all here now in the middle of nowhere with me, I must ask for your help. When I transform, I may not be able to keep my sanity. If I cannot...you _must_ kill me."

"What?! Are you fucking kidding me?" Natsu's voice sounded out first, being the most hot-headed of the group, and he slammed his hands down on the table dramatically.

"There is no way we could do that Shio." Lucy's voice was much more calm, but it held the same concern that Natu's did.

"Let her finish." Erza was level-headed as ever and nodded for Shio to continue.

"If I lose it, I won't be able to stop myself from hurting you. Therefore, you must do this for me. _Please_. I have asked Mystogan to deal the final blow. He understands the difficulty of what I have been going through this last year very well. He has seen how badly it has affected me, and that it has been getting worse. All you need to do it make sure that I do not hurt you." she finally looked up at her friends faces. " _Please._ I am begging you all."

It shocked her, but Erza spoke again. "I understand. This is not something Shio is requesting lightly, and we must respect her wishes. I believe that in her position, we would all want to make sure we did not hurt our loved ones, even if it costed us our life. We have all been willing to sacrifice ourselves in battle to protect each other before. This is just a slightly different situation." her wise words were a much more eloquent than Shio's, but Shio really appreciated that she understood.

"Thank you, Erza." she nodded in respect, and Erza returned the gesture.

"Shio...this is really hard, but I can't imagine how hard it's been for you. I understand and I will do what I can to help you." Lucy was really brave and Shio admired her for it.

"I think I get it. I would prefer to die than to hurt any of my friends or guildmates. I'll do what I can too, Shio." Natsu had his arms crossed, and clearly wasn't pleased, but he seemed to comprehend the gravity of the situation. Sometimes the Fire Dragon Slayer was strangely profound and wise.

Gray was still silent, and he had his elbows on the table, and his head resting in his hands. She could just see that his brow was tightly knit together, and that his jaw was clenched. Her eyes dropped to his throat, and she could see the marks on his wrist were darker than they had been after she had first inflicted them, and it only reinforced her need to follow through with her plan.

"Gray, do you agree to help?" Erza piped up, probably sensing Shio's need to hear his answer.

He lifted his head up and knitted his fingers together. He tried to speak a few times but just exhaled heavily and shook his head. They waited silently for him to string the words he needed to say, and Shio was trying extremely hard not to cry. Gray's eyes closed and his lips pressed into a fine line before he finally spoke.

"This is bullshit." Shio's breath hitched in her throat, but he continued. " _However_ , I know that if I was in your position, I would want the same thing. I don't know how hard it's been for you, but I know that you wouldn't have lashed out before if you had your wits about you. Obviously it's getting harder for you to control." he rubbed at the marks he knew were on his neck absentmindedly. "As much as I hate it coming to this, I know it would be much worse for you to have to ask us this. I'm in." He made eye contact with her seeing her glassy eyes, and grabbed one of her hands from her lap and squeezed it tightly.

"Thank you guys. I'm sorry that I have had to ask you to do this for me, but I could not tolerate the alternative. I would also like to ask that you finish off Black Kraken in my absence, if it comes to that. If you could give me an hour to prepare, I would appreciate it." she asked, still not letting go of Gray's hand.

"Of course. Take as long as you need. We are here for you when you are ready." Erza was still calm, but Shio could hear her voice waver due to her enhanced hearing.

After a moment of silence, Shio got up, and Gray held onto her hand for as long as he could. She gave her friends a sad smile and walked back outside, Faelan falling into step next to her. They trekked out until they were a few minutes walk from the cabin, and sat down in the middle of a small clearing. For a bit over an hour, they simply sat there and meditated, strengthening their bond as much as they could in what could be their last moments.

It surprised her but Shio wasn't exactly sad about her fate. She had been plagued by all the nightmares and voices since she changed, but they were becoming more and more traumatic and she was constantly trying to keep the strangle hold on her sanity. Since her friends had agreed to help her, by possibly killing her, she did feel like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. It was a strange thought for someone who may end up dead by the end of the day, but she knew that it was preferable to hurting the people who had taken her in after her own family had been killed.

A presence behind her broke her from her trance and she looked over her shoulder to see Mystogan walking towards her. He came and sat next to her with a casual air that confused her slightly. She wasn't expecting him to be this relaxed, but maybe he was just pretending so she would feel better. Before she could question it further, he spoke.

"Are you nervous?." his voice was very quiet, as per usual.

"Nothing of the sort. I am however utterly terrified and scared shitless." she huffed faintly in sardonic amusement and he minutely raised an eyebrow at her. "I'm sorry to have to ask this of you. I really am."

He was quiet for a solid minute before he figured out what he wanted to say. "Shio, as you said before, I have seen what you have been going through the last year. Maybe if you didn't come with me and were fighting constantly, it might not have gotten so bad so quickly, but I know you would regret it if you didn't come with me. Either way, it's come to this and I respect how brave you are in facing this situation."

Shio's jaw dropped and her eyes were wide as he spoke. "I don't really have a choice. It's either suffer and risk hurting those I care for, or at least attempt to fix it."

"But trying to fix it might end up in your death."

"Mmm." she looked up at the sky peeking its way through the canopy. "Preferable to the alternative." she spun slightly to face him fully and he copied her movement, doing the same. "I wanted to thank you. You have been incredible over this last year and a bit, and I cannot thank you enough for all that you've done for me. I hope that if I do survive this that I can somehow make it up to you eventually." Faelan grunted from her left in agreement.

"No need to. You have been a wonderful companion, and I am proud of you." he lifted his hand up to his face and pulled down his mask and smiled brightly at her.

Not able to respond, she merely blinked at him slowly, blatantly staring at his face. She hadn't seen it before, and it was a shock for him to reveal it all of a sudden. He had a tattoo down one side of his face, and it gave him a very different sort of twist to his facial structure, and he was certainly an attractive young man. He surely couldn't have been too much older than she was, a few years at most. She was taken aback by the gesture of trust to reveal his face and broke out in an abrupt and happy grin.

It went quiet and they both stared at the sky and the trees quietly before Shio had an amusing thought.

"So, do you wear the mask to keep the girls away?" she pursed her lips to stop herself from laughing, and she looked over to him and saw him turn his head slowly, comprehending her words.

After a moment, she couldn't hold in her laughter and lost it, and she laughed even more when he began to chuckle with her. They hadn't really had a moment like this, and she was glad that they could at least have a laugh together even in such dire straits.

It would have been over an hour by now, and the rest of their group joined them a few minutes later in the clearing and Mystogan pulled his mask back up before they noticed. The three of them stood up, and Shio took a deep breath before she looked over to her friends. Strange expressions were on their faces, and it was an odd mix of sadness, determination and worry. Even Erza's normally steeled expression was broken by her tightly knit brow and downturned mouth. Happy wasn't even thinking about fish for a change.

Shio and Faelan were surrounded by their friends, and she couldn't help but smile. At least she had friends. After her family was gone, she would never have expected to create such strong bonds and be welcomed with such open arms into a loving guild who treated it's members like family. Whatever the outcome, she would be happy to have had all the experiences Fairy Tail had offered her.

"Thank you guys. I cannot tell you how sorry I am to ask this of you, and how much I appreciate your understanding." Shio spoke with a happy voice that surprised her friends. Lucy walked forward and pulled her into a hug.

"Fight with everything you have. You need to read the newest chapters of my story!" the girls giggled and tightened their embrace before Shio let go.

Erza approached her next, and squished her forcefully into her armour. "With your friends here, you can't possibly fail. The spirit of Fairy Tail is within you, Shio."

"Thank you Erza." she said, slightly breathless and rubbing her arm where a particular pointy part of her armour had dug in.

Natsu was next and gave her a very male hug, with two heavy pats on her back that made her cough from the force. "After this is done, we will all go on a big fishing trip!" Shio grinned and nodded in agreement. Happy fluttered next to him and nuzzled her cheek affectionately.

Her beloved ice mage was last, but not least. He scratched the back of his head awkwardly, not exactly knowing the protocol for this situation, and how to express himself in this moment. Instead, Shio made the first move and pulled on his jacket to bring him close. She gently kissed the corner of his mouth, and it was over just as fast as it begun. If she let it last any longer, she wouldn't go through with this plan, and she needed to do this.

His dark eyes found hers and he exhaled shakily, a light blush colouring his cheeks. He smiled at her being so forward all of a sudden and said the only thing that popped in his head.

"I bet Elfman, Bickslow and Gajeel that I would get you to agree to go on a date with me. I plan on winning that bet, so you need to come back to Magnolia soon. Okay? I can't stand things ending like this. Not getting the chance to…" he hesitated and she knew where he was going with this.

"I know…" she loosened her grip on his jacket, and looked at the empty space between them. "I'm sorry about everything. Just know that I never intended for everything to end up like this."

"I know."

Their exchange was brief, but it seemed that the words not spoken were much louder and clearer than they had said aloud. Shio knew that if she died here today, they would both regret not listening to their hearts and being together earlier, at least allowing themselves a little more time together. Gray knew that Shio didn't want it to come to this, but he understood her concern about hurting or killing her friends or innocent people. He knew that she didn't mean to leave him in Magnolia without a clue where she had gone.

It was going to be practically impossible for him to restrain her, but he respected her wishes enough to be willing to do what she had asked, difficult as it may be. The thought of her not being around was making his chest physically ache and his pulse was racing like mad, adrenalin flowing through him faster than he thought possible.

He grasped one of her hands and pulled it to his lips, lingering for long enough to imagine that they were back in Magnolia together, lying in bed together on a rainy day. She sniffled, but held it together as he stepped away, holding onto her for as long as he could.

Their friends moved away, going to one side of the clearing each. Shio stayed in the middle with Faelan, and scratched behind his ears, saying their goodbyes mentally as she tuned out to the real world around them, focusing on their bond.

It was time...


	14. Sacrifice

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My apologies for the delay in posting this chapter.  
> Every time I tried to write the battle scene, I wasn't happy with it.  
> The final chapter will be released within a week!

**Chapter 14 - Sacrifice**

_Their friends moved away, going to one side of the clearing each. Shio stayed in the middle with Faelan, and scratched behind his ears, saying their goodbyes mentally as she tuned out to the real world around them, focusing on their bond._

_It was time…_

The wind moved softly across her skin, making her long hair brush against her shoulders. She could hear and smell _everything._ She could hear her friends nervous breaths, the wind through the trees and she could smell their individual scents like they were right in front of her nose, even being able to identify which shampoo Lucy and Erza were using. Her senses were so heightened that for a moment her brain almost had trouble comprehending all the information.

Faelan moved to stand behind her, and she inhaled deeply. Turning her head just enough so that she could look at him over her shoulder, she gave him a single nod and tried to steel herself as she let go of her breath. Her fists clenched tightly at her sides, and she waited for whatever was coming next. Her companion moved to put his weight on his back legs, and towered over her as he placed his front paws on her shoulders. Shio almost crumbled under the weight, but held fast.

Through their bond, she felt a very strange sensation, something she had never experienced before. Then when Faelan clamped his huge jaws down on the junction from her neck and shoulder, it was almost like utter pleasure and pain simultaneously. A sound between a yelp and moan escaped her. The darker side of her mind was rapidly expanding, and the sensation increased tenfold. Her eyes were shut and she grimaced as the feeling continued for what seemed like an eternity.

Finally, it waned slowly and she no longer felt Faelan's huge weight on her shoulders. A strong wave of lightheadedness hit her like a train, and she felt like throwing up. The nausea worsened as her mind was taken over gradually, and she coughed forcefully. She covered her mouth and looked down to see it was soaked with her blood and she struggled to keep breathing from the shock as it disappeared into her skin, soaking it up like a sponge.

Vaguely, she heard some familiar voices call her name but wasn't able to focus on them. Somewhere in her mind, her own voice told her that it was her friends and they were worried and she needed to get through this for them. It was an odd feeling, but she mentally tried to claw her way through to the front of her own mind again.

_She was walking through a thick jungle and the plants were all taller than her, to the point that she could barely make out the sunlight from above her. As usual in her mind, the sky was completely red, from what little of it she could. She was struggling to make her way past the plants that seemed to grab and grasp at her as she went past. Hissing in pain, she felt nicks and cuts from the various vegetation, most with sharp thorns and leaves decorating them. All she could smell was her own blood to the point that she could taste._

_A root seemed to rise out of the ground at just the right time to trip her, and she landed flat on her face. Dirt covered her face and her body and she laid there for a moment, frustrated with her predicament. With a large huff, she pushed herself back up and dusted herself down slightly. These were Levy's clothes, which were in tatters already from being worn for so long, but they were definitely unsalvageable now._

_Once she raised her head, there was a large black door in front her. It seemed to be almost levitating and she stepped around to look behind it and found the jungle continued, but the door had to lead somewhere...surely..._

_Though her hand shook with nervousness, she turned the knob and opened it. As she did, it was as if the whole world turned suddenly and she fell again, face first onto a hard floor. Muttering curses to herself, she rolled onto her back and saw that the room was made completely from concrete. On the ceiling was the door that she had came through, and she scrunched her nose up in confusion._

" _Where the hell am I?" she spoke out loud to no one, but a voice answered back._

" _You are in my territory, Akashio…" the voice was low and filled with untold malice, and she felt it begin to radiate in the empty space around her._

_Leaping to her feet, she looked around to see nothing but concrete walls. "Who are you?" she called out into the darkness._

" _I am you…"_

" _What the fuck does that mean?"_

_It laughed._

" _I am the part of you that you have been repressing for all this time. I am Akashio, and I am Faelan."_

_Pinching the bridge of her nose, she breathed deeply, processing this information. "So you are the part of me who wants to kill and/or fuck everything in sight?"_

" _We are one and the same, Akashio. That's all there is to it."_

_She sighed again. "Fine then. Why have you brought me here?"_

" _You wish to gain control, do you not?" it had a strangely excited lilt in it's voice, and it worried her._

" _It's not a matter of what I wish. I_ must _gain control. That's all there is to it." she repeated it's words from before and it laughed it's cold laugh again._

" _That is not solely your decision. Surely you understand this."_

" _Then what do I need to do to gain control?" she was beginning to lose her patience with the voices cryptic nonsense._

" _You must defeat me." it spoke as if the answer was obvious, like she must have been blind not to have seen it._

" _In a test of willpower? In a fight? Or what?"_

" _It is one and the same."_

" _Can you give me a straight fucking answer?" her temper was wearing thinner by the minute._

" _I am. You merely are not comprehending them correctly."_

" _Right...Then let's do this. I have people waiting for me and I don't like being late." a particular face popped into her mind briefly, as she took up a fighting stance, unsure of what to expect._

_A shape appeared before her, just like when she had made her original transformation to Kisan-Aralyn, and yet it was different. The first time, it was a shade of Faelan, but this time it seemed to be a shade of the fully transformed version of herself that she saw attacking and killing her in her dreams. Her stomach dropped and she felt adrenalin rush through her, as she made her partial transformation._

_She doubted that she would be anywhere near as fast or strong as the shade, but she had to at least try. Her friends were outside worrying about her, and she had no idea what her physical body was doing while she was stuck inside her own mind. She might be attacking them for all that she knew, so this needed to be over with as quickly as possible so she could return to them._

" _Are you ready?" the voice was still filled with malice, and unspoken evils._

" _Are_ you _?" she snapped back curtly, and readied herself for a tough fight._

_Before she could react, the shade was directly in front of her, and swiping large claws at her. It was too late her to dodge, so she ducked and jammed it's arm above the elbow and pushed with all her strength, hoping to keep the lethal claws away from her. She could swear that it laughed as it stumbled backward from her counter, but it wasn't interested in letting her catch a break._

_Rushing at her again, it took all she had to dodge, deflect or parry its attacks. She had no chance to even think of a counterattack as she was completely on the defensive. Once she began to tire, it seemed that the shade simply gained more strength and she knew that she couldn't give up. Her friends faces flashed in her mind's eye and it gave her a boost. Her speed increased and she began to keep up with the shade._

_It seemed shocked and she used it to her advantage and got a swipe of her claws across its side, slicing down to its rib cage. She growled and kicked the shade away from her, trying to avoid it attacking her while she was vulnerable. Using its tactic against it, she charged, not letting up her assault and threw everything she had and thought that she had landed her Dark Slash on the shade, but it was unaffected. The arc of magical power should have sliced it clean in half._

" _Shit." she cursed to herself, and her earlier confidence waned faintly._

" _Nice try, Akashio. I am afraid such attacks will not serve you in here. Only I am able to use our true strength." the shade seemed amused at her feeble attempts, but that wouldn't mean she was going to give up._

" _Then if you are the only one with power here, what is the point of this fight?" she yelled in reply, unsure what this trial was supposed to do._

" _That is for you to figure out."_

_The shade's power soared and she willed herself to keep her guard up. She was hit by its relentless attacks over and over again, and it was all she could do to stop the shade from ripping her to shreds. Exhausted already, she desperately tried to defend herself and couldn't fully block a swipe to her leg, cutting clean through her thigh and she hissed in pain._

_She stumbled and tried to keep upright. She knew that some of the muscle had been sliced through, and growled, angry at the fact that she got hit. Voices in her head kept telling her that she should just stay down, just give up, that none of this was worth it._

" _This is bullshit!" she screamed aloud in anger and the voice replied._

" _Giving up?"_

" _Tch, if you are me, then you would know that I'm not going to give up so easily. I've had my fair share of near death experiences and this doesn't even come close to them." she was trying her best to bait it into losing its temper._

" _You are clearly underestimating me, woman." Shio's tactic seemed to be working and she defended herself as best she could whilst trying to think of more ways to piss it off._

_Instead of comments, she simply decided to go with breaking out in laughter. Though she was completely on the ropes, she felt the attacks become more unpredictable with more raw strength behind them. Her plan was working, and she kept up her act as best as she could._

" _Enough!" the voice was clearly annoyed, and she was just going to wait for the right opportunity to make her counter attack._

_The shade swung a right hook at her head, but due to it's anger left itself open. She shifted her weight, ducking underneath the punch and shifted her weight back again, using it to send her fist flying into the shade's ribs. Hearing a painful crack, she grinned darkly, and knew that it was her turn now. Sending a barrage it's way in payback, she used everything in her arsenal to get as many blows in as she could while she had the chance._

_Though she doubted it was going to do much damage, she knew that she had to do something, anything to try and spin the fight in her favour. After she had exhausted all the movements she had, her tired mind gave her only one idea._

_When the shade recovered, she allowed it to approach her and grab her by the throat. The shade was shocked when she didn't fight back._

" _What are you doing?!"_

" _If I did, you die. Therefore, you cannot kill me. Unless you wish to die." She grinned darkly at her counterpart._

_The shade stared quietly, its pitch black form seeming surprised by her logic. It's grip stayed strong and she began to lose consciousness from lack of oxygen._

_Everything went black…_

When she came to, she felt that she was laying down. She felt incredibly dizzy, and nauseous, and she was desperately trying not to vomit. Her attempts failed and she rolled half assedly onto her side and her stomach cramped painfully as she hurled. There was a metallic taste in her mouth, and she finally opened her eyes and looked at st the ground beneath her. It was mostly water mixed with dark red blood. Her eyes were wide as she wondered what was going on inside her body.

She heard her name called from somewhere around her but couldn't figure out where it was coming from. It took her a moment for her eyes to focus but she managed to make out someone with bright red hair, and a blonde next to them. Someone from behind her helped her sit up carefully. Her breathing was still laboured and heavy, but now she was starting to calm down. Her nausea had gone now, although her light headedness remained.

The person behind her had cool skin and she realised somewhere in her mind that it was Gray. That he was still here. She turned her head to try and look for him, and he moved so that she could see him. He smiled at her as she checked him over for wounds and did the same to her other friends promptly after.

"We're alright, Shio." Erza's strong voice made her relax and she smiled at her red-headed friend once her eyes had focused upon her.

"How are you feeling?" Lucy asked straight after and knelt down next to her.

"I feel...odd. I'm not quite sure how to explain it." Shio had no idea how to describe the sensation in her body.

"Would you like a fish?" Happy fluttered around and was polite enough to offer.

"I don't think she needs fish right now, Happy." Natsu said with a laugh.

"As long as you are okay." Gray's calm tones washed over her and if she wasn't so exhausted, her stomach would be doing flips.

"What did I do?" She asked, desperately hoping she hadn't attacked her friends or done anything weird.

"You just stood there and Faelan disappeared _into_ you. It was totally weird to watch." Lucy shuddered slightly at the memory and Shio smirked faintly.

"Your eyes have turned completely red as well," Natsu commented off-handedly after leaning toward her to look closer. She shrugged, not having an answer for why they were fully red now.

She looked over to Mystogan who was standing back a little from the group, giving her friends some space to be near her. He was staring up into the canopy, but she could tell that everything was fine from the shadows on his mask. Usually she could spot him frowning or smiling from that alone. From his relatively blank expression, she gathered that nothing too crazy had occurred while she was blacked out.

The masked man looked over to her and narrowed his eyes almost imperceptibly and she could feel that something wasn't quite right. Everyone else's shoulders dropped and it seemed like the air was thicker than before.

"Shio. Suppress your magical power. It's heavy," Gray commented from beside her, with a strained voice and her mind clicked and realised what was happening.

Concentrating for a brief moment, she brought herself back into check, and tried to hide her smile. She saw Gray raise an eyebrow in her peripheral vision and couldn't hide it any more.

"We've been here before," she chuckled softly and he watched her for a moment, before he glanced to his right and recalled the memory she was referring to. He shared a soft smile with her before she attempted to stand. Gray helped her and kept a hand on her waist to steady her. "Thank you." she said quietly to him and he nodded once in reply.

If Shio wasn't feeling incredibly strange, she probably would have been blushing madly as Gray walked with his arm still around her until they reached the living room inside the small cabin. The others followed with them slowly, and Natsu opened the door to make it easier for them to go in.

Faelan's presence within her hadn't gone unnoticed. In fact, it was almost like how she felt normally. Their shared thoughts were still the same, except she didn't need to concentrate on talking to him through their link. Their conscious and subconscious thoughts were one now, and she could feel that he was relieved that their transformation had been successful. She could also feel how exhausted he was too, just from their mental strain, and was ready to fall asleep any second. Shio felt the same.

After they were seated on the lounge, Gray let go of her, and tried to conceal how awkward he felt. Luckily, he didn't really need to as Shio had already fallen asleep, exhausted from her inner journey…

* * *

Today was _the day_.

They were leaving to track down what would hopefully be their final lead on Black Kraken. Somehow Mystogan had gotten information about a large gathering of dark guild members in an abandoned city not too far from their location. Shio took a guess that he got word from the Rune Knights. Considering how near it was to the other smaller squads, it was worth checking out. Even if it wasn't Black Kraken, they would still be doing the Rune Knights a favour by dealing with a dark guild.

With Team Natsu here, as well as Mystogan - who made a habit of dealing with dark guilds on his own - and Shio, they were practically unstoppable. They tidied up the small cabin, and packed all of their bags, knowing that they weren't coming back here. If they completed this mission, and destroyed Black Kraken, they would return to Magnolia. If it wasn't Black Kraken, they would continue to hunt them down until they completed their task.

Their information pointed them towards a large construction site that was originally designed to be a new residential area in the average sized city called Epheros. They had plenty of shops and businesses, but not enough people living there to help them make ends meet. Unfortunately, the plan had backfired and the businesses funding the idea had gone broke, and the town was mostly abandoned now. It still had a few people living there, mostly getting their necessities from the land, since they lived further out on their own farms.

As they made their way towards Epheros, Shio was completely lost in thought. She hadn't separated with Faelan since she fully transformed, and they were chattering away in their shared mind. The rest of the team had left her alone for the most part, sensing her discomfort, and occasional bursts of anger. Gray had walked beside her for the last few hours, and kept an eye on her. Shio had been too immersed in her own head to notice his concerned glances every few minutes, nor had she noticed Mystogan's occasional updates on how far away they were.

Finally, they were about to enter the ghost town, and Gray grabbed Shio's shoulder before she walked straight into a signpost.

"Shio!" he turned her towards their group, who had stopped walking and were standing in a circle to discuss their plan.

"Sorry." she muttered quietly, just loud enough to hear and joined her friends.

"My informant said that they had reports of 20 or more mages in the town. However, they have been using the construction site as a base of operations while they create their fake potions, and there might be many more that haven't been seen. Make sure you keep your guard up." Mystogan had waited for Shio to look like she was paying attention before he spoke, and hoped that she was okay.

"I brought these along, in case we get separated and need to signal for help." Erza grabbed some small red balls from her backpack and handed one to everyone. "If you are in trouble, squeeze the ball until it shatters and it will send up a column of light that everyone will see. Then someone will come and help you."

Shio stared at the ball in her hand and was momentarily amazed by the idea. Since she had joined Fairy Tail, she had learned about all sorts of crazy and helpful magical devices, and had some bad experiences with a few as well. Enchanted paper was certainly not her favourite for obvious reasons.

"I suggest that we split up into teams. Natsu, Lucy and Happy can be one team. Erza and Gray can work together, and Shio and I will be the last team." Mystogan suggested and everyone except Natsu nodded in agreement. "That may change depending on the layout of our battlefield though. We will have to see."

"But I wanted to be partnered with Shio. I wanted to see her fight now that she's all fired up." Natsu said with a pout, and yelped with Lucy hit him upside the head for his idiocy.

"Mystogan and Shio have been fighting together for over a year. It's silly to split them up." Erza offered as an explanation and Natsu finally shrugged in nonchalance.

"Shio. Can you tell how many there are from here?" Mystogan asked her, but it was unlikely from such a distance. Natsu's nose was better, but Shio's was more efficient in the smaller details.

"Not from here. I can scout ahead, if you like." Shio offered with a dark tone, her longing for battle beginning to take hold of her.

"If you wouldn't mind."

She nodded once, and left her pack with the group before disappearing. Luckily the city was still fairly well intact, since it had only been recently abandoned, and this allowed her to have plenty of cover as she snuck through the streets. There was a few guards patrolling and she peeked through a window to try and get a look at their guild mark. Unfortunately, they were fairly well covered, and she wasn't able to identify if they even had a mark at all.

The subtle scent that she had memorised was in the air though, and that was her only hope at this stage. She crept further into the town, going through what used to be shops and people's backyards before the construction site came into view. It was fairly dingy, but the lack of massive buildings and fences did give them an advantage when it came to visibility. No one would be able to sneak up on them, or at least not very easily.

For at least 20 minutes, she sat and committed as many smells and images of people to her mind, Faelan offering quiet thoughts when he needed to. She could sense magical power from all of them, so at least she knew that they were definitely a wizard guild, but she couldn't leave until she knew their guild mark. If she couldn't find it, and they ran in and starting taking on a good guild who was just using Epheros as their base, that would look bad for Fairy Tail. She had to be certain.

Although it wasn't ideal, she waited quietly, in what must have been an old cafe. It had some conveniently placed windows which allowed her to sit on the floor and still look through the curtains at the construction site. She lingered until finally one man walking past stopped to chat to another member and stretched his arms up high while they talked. He had a tattoo just on the waistband of his pants, and just as he yawned, his shirt lifted up a little more and she saw the mark she wanted to see.

It was Black Kraken.

Without making a sound, she made a fist and punched the air above her head in sheer relief. If it wasn't Black Kraken, she wasn't sure how long she would be able to keep her sanity. They had really struck gold here, and she made a point to get Mystogan to pass on the name of his informant for her use when she went out hunting dark guilds on her own.

Carefully, she made her way back to the group, who had taken to sitting inside an empty unit. When she walked through the door, she noticed a large grandfather clock off to the side, and she almost jumped out of her skin when it moved and turned to look at her.

"He's one of my spirits, Shio." Lucy said with a quiet laugh at her friend's confusion. "His name is Horologium. He's going to stay here and look after our stuff while we kick some butt." the blonde grinned determinedly and Shio couldn't help but smile.

"I presume you have good news." Mystogan could tell from her lack of a scowl that they were in the right place.

"It's them." Shio smirked darkly, her red eyes shining brightly.

They were sitting in a small circle on the floor, and Erza shuffled over so she could sit down between her and Natsu.

"So, they are definitely expecting an attack. That's for sure. There is guards patrolling every few hundred metres, but they have the advantage on the construction site. I could see at least 26 of them, and there is one complete building and a few half-finished ones, so there is no way that we will be able to approach undetected. They will see us right away. I couldn't tell how many were inside either." Shio was in business mode, and Faelan was silent in her head as she spoke to her group.

"Actually, I know someone who can help with getting us in undetected." Lucy pulled out one of her golden keys and held it up for the group to see. "Virgo can dig underground and create a passage for us to pop up right in the middle of them." Lucy grinned and Erza patted her on the shoulder in appreciation for her resourcefulness.

"Then may I suggest that Natsu, and I jump up first? Close combat is our speciality, and we can work on those right in front of us. Gray, Erza and Lucy, you can join us after with your mid to long range abilities. Mystogan, may I suggest you take the rear guard to ensure that they don't escape. Happy can help you scout for any runners." Shio's voice was uncharacteristically serious, and Faelan said that her friends wouldn't recognise her in his moment, and she mentally brushed him off.

"I believe that would be the best course of action." Mystogan agreed simply after he considered her plan for a few seconds.

Natsu grinned happily and whacked Shio's back in what was supposed to be a friendly, affectionate gesture, but he almost knocked the wind from her.

"I do get to see you fight then! I'm all fired up now!"

The group laughed at the Dragon Slayer before they discussed a few more variations and tactics, should things get crazy. They made sure that they all had their magic balls, in case of emergency, and that they all knew the escape plan, should they need to use it.

Lucy summoned Virgo and Shio blinked quietly as she watched the Celestial Mage work. She was surprised at how efficient Lucy was, and she knew that it would take a significant amount of control and magical power to keep both Virgo and Horologium summoned at once. From what she knew, Lucy had once summoned all of her spirits simultaneously, and she was certainly impressed with her abilities.

The Celestial spirit appeared and immediately suggested that Lucy punish her, and turned around, leaning over a little. Shio snorted in repressed laughter and put her nose to her shoulder so that no one would see her laughing. Everyone else was used to Virgo acting like this, but Shio was yet to see the slightly strange way Virgo showed her loyalty.

"Please dig a hole from here until you reach the middle of the construction site on the other end of the town." Lucy asked politely.

"Right away, Princess." Virgo bowed low with her hand over her heart after receiving her orders.

She disappeared into the ground almost straight away, going right through the floorboards beneath them. The rest of the group seemed to know intuitively that Virgo would be a few minutes, and they sat back down in their circle. Shio joined them for lack of knowing what else to do, and just tried to keep her thoughts linear. They were jumping all over the place, with voices of fear, impatience, tenacity, and burning fury screaming in her mind.

As best she could, she blocked out the voices of her friends and meditated quietly, with Faelan offering words of encouragement and helped to keep her calm while they waited. When Virgo reappeared out of the hole she had made earlier, Lucy helped her out, and rolled her eyes when Virgo suggested punishment for taking so long. Shio, however was too distracted to notice until Mystogan came to sit next to her.

"Are you alright?" he placed a hand on her leg to get her attention, and brought it back right away when she flinched.

"Um, yeah. Just keeping my head in the right space for this." She tried to smile, but failed terribly and she knew that he would understand.

He looked out the window, following her gaze and nodded slowly. Mystogan had seen her best and worst moments over the last year, and she was so glad to know that he had decided to help her in ridding the world of Black Kraken. She wondered idly whether he had known that once she was strong enough, she probably would have run off on her own to take them on, whether her friends let her or not. They would have ended up tagging along anyway, and that had become reality. She was glad to have them with her. Their support was probably what got her through her transformation. If they weren't waiting for her, she didn't know how she would have ended up.

"We're ready." Erza said loud enough for her and Mystogan to hear, and her voice was patient, giving them a moment to gather themselves for the coming battle.

By the time Shio had gotten up, dusted herself off and took a steadying breath, Virgo was gone and her friends were waiting for her quietly. They were standing around the hole, silently waiting to support her through what was going to be a tough and arduous day.

"Thanks for this. And everything else, guys. I couldn't have done it all without you." Shio finally decided to try and begin to express her gratitude, although she doubted she could ever truly show the depths of it.

"The fight isn't over yet. Thank us after we get through it." Erza made an armoured fist and placed her hand out flat in the middle of their group. "For Fairy Tail."

Everyone smiled and copied here, their hands making a pile in the middle. Even Mystogan joined them, and with a determined voice they shouted 'Fairy Tail' together as they threw their hands up high. The masked man nodded to them and went out the door first, with Happy floating next to him, going to take up their positions. Shio and Natsu stepped forward and readied themselves.

"This is going to be fun!" Natsu disappeared first, and Shio followed him.

"I'm off then." Shio hopped in.

The hole they crawled through was small, but just large enough for them to make their way through fairly quickly. She could hear her friends following behind her and could smell the freshness of the earth around them. Underground, no other smells aside her friends were recognisable, and when they got closer to their target, she still couldn't pick anything up.

"I can see the light. You ready Shio?" Natsu asked her in a loud whisper, turning over his shoulder so she could hear him.

"As ready as we'll ever be." her voice held a guttural edge to it that she hadn't intended on having, but she knew that it was Faelan's voice coming through.

"3."

Her heart seemed to stop.

"2."

She held her breath subconsciously.

"1."

She gritted her teeth.

Natsu shot upwards, and she could feel the heat from the flames erupting from his body, and gave him a moment before she leapt up next to him. If she went up at the same time, she would have been turned to ash within a few short seconds. They stood back to back, and made short work of the several guards patrolling the area.

Shio could smell Mystogan and Happy who were hanging back roughly three hundred metres to ensure that if anyone made a run for it, they would stay hidden long enough to stop their progress. Lucy, Gray and Erza were waiting underground still, and Shio would give them the signal when they were ready for the ranged attacks. The Fire Dragon Slayer blasted two more men with a wave of flames and Shio called out to her other friends.

They immediately took off in different directions, splitting up for the most part and started the decisive battle with Black Kraken. Virgo was only able to take them so far in the site as she was concerned the tunnel would collapse, and they would have to fight their way through to the only complete building on the entire block. There was only four others, but they were half done and had minimal shelter.

Each of them had a couple of guys doing random tasks, and it seemed like they were actually trying to finish off the rest of the buildings. Until they were disturbed, that is. Shio heard the clang of Erza's swords and heard Lucy summoning her spirits, while Gray took care of his side with his Ice Make Magic. Natsu was in front of her, fighting his way through towards the building that was roughly one hundred metres in front of them. She was behind him, following up on his attacks and making sure that every single one of their enemies wouldn't be getting up for a good, long while.

After they had fought their way through, they regrouped at the entrance.

"That was easier than I expected." Natsu commented off-handedly, but his arrogant smirk fell at the look on Shio's face.

"It's going to get much harder from now on. I can smell at least another 20 inside and they feel much stronger. You?" she looked to Natsu who concentrated for a moment and nodded in confirmation.

A massive metal double-door was blocking their way, and Shio gathered that their loud and dramatic entrance would mean that it was going to be locked. They hadn't exactly been quiet so far, and it would be hard not to notice flames, swords, and ice flying around outside. Shio examined it a little closer and pushed it gently to see if it would budge.

Predictably, it didn't and she tilted her head from side to side, letting her neck crack before she readied her attack. Faelan's voice instructed her on what to do in her head and she tried out their new technique. When they were separate, he could do it, but nowhere near as strong as they could combined.

She gathered as much magical power in her right fist and took up a strong stance. Her friends watched quietly, wondering what she was going to do. Slowly, she pushed her fist out in a punch, trying to keep her aim accurate. Once she had finished pulling her power to a small point on her fist, she took a deep breath and slammed it into the right door. The metal crunched under her explosive power, and the huge thud almost deafened her. The metal had caved inward sufficiently, leaving a huge dent in the door.

Moving to the left door, she repeated the process and caved the other door in as well. This made a large gap in the middle, and she concentrated on her upper body strength and grabbed the edges of the each door with clawed hands. Her musculature tripled in her shoulders and back as she pulled the doors apart to create a large enough hole for them to slip through.

When she was happy with the size, she turned just enough to look over her shoulder at her friends, and smirked faintly at their wide eyes.

"Shall we?" she suggested with an air of nonchalance and her friends finally snapped out of their shock and followed her through the hole.

The rest of their enemies had made a phalanx formation to stop them from reaching the stairs to the second level, and Shio analysed immediately that was where she needed to go. Gray and Erza rushed forward with Natsu, Lucy in the back providing support and whatever spirits would work best in their situation. Loke joined the fray after she had decided on his close combat abilities being the most suitable and Shio knew that they were trying to give her an opening to slip through.

Unfortunately, their numbers made them tough to overcome all at once. When one got knocked down, another would replace them and so on. Their endurance was admirable, and this was obviously why they were the last line of defence. They were the tanks, the guys designed to take the biggest hits and continue fighting. They were the one protecting the leader, and they had to be strong.

After Erza had made a large strike with her Lightning Empress armour, four of the heavy hitters were momentarily disabled and Shio knew that was her moment. Channelling her strength to her legs, she pushed off as hard as she could and blasted through them to reach the stairs to the second level. Lucy's whip appeared to her right and she grabbed onto someone who tried to stop her approach and Shio made a mental note to thank her later.

Taking the stairs five at a time, she reached the top in record time and charged headfirst through the closed door. They flew off their hinges into the room that held shelves filled with glass bottles, and one man, sitting calmly at a desk opposite her. Her mind drifted back to Gray's description of the man that had attacked him.

" _Middle-aged, with orange hair and scars down the side of his face. I can't remember much after that, but I remember seeing their guild mark. It looked like a kraken."_

His hair wasn't exactly orange, but it was a bright shade of red. There was two, deep scars that went from just under his right eye to his jawline. His eyes were dark, and piercing and she glared at him with the fires of hell, growling low in her chest at the sight of him. He stood up and from the way his clothes hung on his frame loosely, she gathered that he was a skinny guy. The longer she looked, the more lanky he appeared. It was obvious that he hadn't physically overpowered Gray.

"You certainly know how to make an entrance." his voice was higher pitched than she expected, but it held a certain malice to it that made her skin crawl and Faelan was yelling profanities in her mind at him.

"We've been quite subtle so far, I assure you." Shio's had a stranglehold on her anger, and was trying not to rush at him and tear him limb from limb straight away.

She knew that he had somehow managed to take out Gray, and Gray had much more battle experience and was stronger than her. Maybe not physically, with her ability to enhance whatever she needed to instantaneously, but his overall magical power was stronger and his creative thinking with his Ice Make Magic made him a seriously dangerous opponent. But somehow, this wiry, scarred man had taken him down. His magical abilities must be something to reckon with for him to be capable of such a feat, and Shio watched him carefully, trying to figure out exactly what her game plan should be.

He didn't allow her any more time to think, and he leapt straight over the desk and charged at her. Shio was much faster than him, but she stood her ground and waited to see what he was going to do. When he reached her, she swung at his head and sent a flurry of attacks at him. She kept her speed to around half, just so she wasn't showing all of her cards too early. In a few different fights, her speed was all that had kept her alive, and she had become accustomed to hiding it unless she needed to use it.

Shio could hear the sounds of combat continuing downstairs, as she exchanged blows with the mystery man. Although she had thrown plenty of attacks, somehow he had evaded most of them, and just seemed to be biding his time. She wasn't getting anywhere and began to get frustrated when something went horribly wrong.

She blacked out.

After an undeterminable period of time, she heard Faelan's voice yelling out to her desperately in their shared consciousness.

"SHIO! You need to wake up!"

When she came to, she was standing upright and was halfway through swinging her fist at him. Although her momentum slowed for a second in confusion, her muscle memory did the rest of the work and allowed her to jump back out of close combat range to take a breath and figure out what the hell just happened.

"What the fuck did you do to me?" She screamed at him in outrage.

"More like why didn't that work?" he replied casually, and shrugged.

" _He put his hand on your head and you just passed out. I was able to take over, but it took me too long to get used to controlling your body alone. You took a few hits."_ Faelan explained and she glared at his hand's wondering what his ability was that made her pass out with just a touch.

She took up a defensive stance and readied herself to use more speed. After she charged at him, it was only another moment before Faelan was waking her again. When she came to, in her anger she lost her control and just threw everything she had at him. It seemed that she had initially underestimated his speed to begin with, as he was easily matching her and wasn't even breaking a sweat.

Natsu came roaring toward him and crash-tackled him out of her way and Shio yelled after him to get away. It was too late as she watched them land heavily on the floor and for the man to place two fingers on the top of Natsu's pink-haired head and for him to go limp. He pushed her friend off him and left him there as he approached her again. Her other friends joined her in the room and she didn't want anyone else charging in like Natsu had.

"Don't let him put his hands on your head. He makes you pass out!" Shio shouted at them in warning and they fell into a defensive stance like her own. "Lucy, can you get past in a moment and wake Natsu? He tackled him before I could warn him." Shio asked her blonde friend who nodded once and edged off to the side to wait for her chance.

"Are you alright Shio?" Gray's calm voice was slightly laboured from breathlessness but she was relieved to hear it anyway.

"I'm fine. Since Faelan and I are sharing my body, we are able to switch out for each other. The only problem is I'm not sure if he can lock us both out at once. If not, then we have the advantage. If he can only disable one of us at a time, then we can win." she explained in a whisper to try and avoid him hearing their plan. If he knew that there was technically two of them in her body, he might find a way to shut them both down.

"We must approach him carefully then." Erza requipped to an armour that she hadn't seen before.

"I'm going." Erza and Gray nodded to her, ready to back her up at anytime.

Shio dashed towards him, and used her arcing ability to slice the air toward her. She was careful not to make it large enough to hit Natsu on her right, but it was enough to send the leader stumbling backwards as he struggled to avoid the attack. As he tried to regain his balance, she landed a right hook on his jaw and sent him flying. Lucy ran toward Natsu and began trying to wake him up.

Erza took this as her chance and began her attack. Shio leapt back to Gray who watched Erza taking on the leader carefully. He was ready to back up his friend, and let Shio rest for a moment. Instead of resting though, she seemed to be readying herself for something much bigger.

"Gray. I'm going to fully transform. Help Erza when you need to and protect Natsu and Lucy." Shio asked him in the form of a command, and if she wasn't so busy trying to focus her magical power, she probably would have apologised for her forceful tone. He didn't seem to worry and grunted his agreement.

Taking a calming breath, Shio tilted her head back and let Faelan's form melt into her own. She felt her body begin to change and distort and tried her best to ignore the pain and discomfort that came with the transformation. Her partial ones didn't bother her at all, but since her physical form was so different in the full transformation, she had to just tolerate it until the change was complete.

The process took at least a full minute, which in the middle of a fight was a long time. When she came back to reality, Natsu was just waking up and Erza was out cold. One of Lucy's spirits was tending to the redhead, while Gray and Lucy kept the leader's attention away from them. When Lucy went down, Shio snapped into action.

She yelled for Gray to move, in a voice that she didn't recognise, but luckily he listened and turned to run. A massive swipe of her claws almost struck the ice mage as she was using her 80 percent speed now, getting far too impatient with his ability making his friends drop like flies. Natsu yelled something from the side and waited for his moment to torch the guy, and Gray readied his Ice Make Sword to jump in when he could.

Erza was waking up on the side, and Shio leapt backwards to avoid those damn hands that were surprisingly fast, even by her standards. Natsu sent a wave of flames his way, and managed to hold his own quite well until he almost got knocked out again and Gray took over. Shio took a few breaths on the side and waited to take over. When Gray went down, she lost her temper and took a leaf out of the Fire Dragon Slayer's book.

Instead of rushing at him with claws and fists, she put her head and shoulders down and channeled strength to her legs to run. She tore toward him and sent the point of her shoulder into his solar plexus and enjoyed how she heard the air leave his lungs. But she didn't stop there. Once she had stunned him, she didn't slow down, but kept running and put him through the concrete wall.

For a second, they fell through the air and Shio righted herself to land on her feet by pushing off him, sending him toward the ground even faster. He landed heavily on his back and her almost silently on the dirt a few feet in front of him. Flashes of light suggested that Mystogan was fighting in the distance, and Shio watched as Lucy's spirit Taurus hauled his massive axe over his shoulder and ran in his direction to back him up.

Before the leader could get up, she bounded over to his left and tried to grab a hold of his throat as he tried to sit up. He may have been bluffing, or just too fast but she felt herself black out and her grip weaken. Faelan's voice roused her once more as Natsu and Erza were engaging their enemy. Lucy was standing in front of her, waiting for her to come to. Gray appeared on her right a moment later, conscious again and she looked him over briefly and saw all the bruises and grazes on his shirtless form. A growl escaped her and she put a heavily clawed hand on Lucy's shoulder to let her know she was okay. The blonde nodded to her and checked Gray over quickly as Shio stalked toward her prey once more.

"Lucy!"

Shio called at the same time that Natsu went down once more, and Erza purposely tried to push their opponent away from Natsu's unconscious body to allow Lucy to pull him away from the fray and wake him up. Somehow, Erza fell a moment later and Gray jumped to action, taking her away as Shio took over once more.

It seemed like hours that she pushed her stamina and endurance well past it's limits to keep herself going against this guy. She had no idea how he was able to continue fighting for so long against so many of them. She assumed that his ability somehow allowed him to sap the strength from his opponents, causing them to black out briefly, and filling his stores, letting him continue the fight for as long as he could continue taking strength from them.

Sensing Mystogan's presence behind the leader, she tried to keep him distracted long enough for Mystogan to prepare an attack. She could see him moving his staves from the corner of her eye, and felt his magical power rise. Once she knew he was ready, taking this same tactic with him many times before, she leapt next to him and let his magic do its work.

His Skyscraper technique was incredible to watch, and the light almost blinded her, but she watched anyway as their enemy was caught in his illusion. She knew that she only had a few moments to update him on the scenario.

"I think his ability allows him to take your strength and knock you unconscious. You cannot let him touch you. He has been able to fight us for so long by taking our energy and using it for his own." Shio informed her quiet companion and watched as he set up his next attack.

"Sacred Song!" she heard him mutter as the massive blast made her to lean forward so she didn't get knocked over from the force.

When the light died down, he was still on his feet, but barely.

Now was her chance.

A roar came from low in her gut and she finally used her full speed, not wanting to miss this chance. Pulling her fingers tightly together, she prepared her hand like the point of a spear and sent it flying towards his chest. A dull thud, a crack, and a wet sound hit her ears and she vaguely recognised the sound that meant she had hit her mark. His feet lifted off the ground briefly, before she retracted her hand from his body. He fell backwards with no attempt to catch himself.

Her arm was coated in blood to her elbow, and the metallic smell was overpowering to the point that she could taste it. Silently, she stood over him and watched as he took his last breath and the light in his eyes faded. Resisting the urge to kick his lifeless body in angst, she took a breath to steady her racing heart.

It was over.

Finally.

She heard the footsteps of her friends gather closer, and flung her hand to one side, trying to get rid of the majority of the blood of it, and it flicked onto the ground. Happy fluttered overhead, now that the danger was over and Lucy had an arm around Erza, helping her walk as she came to. Gray and Natsu approached as well as Mystogan who had placed his staves back now and was as calm as ever.

"It's done." his quiet voice was just loud enough to hear and Shio let out the breath that she must have been holding since she left to travel with Mystogan for the purpose of destroying Black Kraken.

Her full transformation reversed a lot quicker than it took to change into it and she stumbled, too exhausted to hold herself up any longer. Someone caught her, and she knew that it was Gray, feeling his cool skin against her own. Her head lolled to one side and rested against his shoulder and he put one of her arms over his shoulder to help hold her up.

Mystogan disappeared for a moment, and she knew that he was signalling the Rune Knights to come and pick up their criminals. She still had no idea how he did it after all this time, but was too wrecked to worry about it now. Lucy said that Loke had been keeping an eye on the other members and Shio nodded to Gray to let her be for a moment. He let her go, albeit reluctantly, and stayed near in case she needed him. She managed to stand on her own well enough and closed her eyes and Faelan appeared next to her. Before she walked toward the body of the Black Kraken leader, she scratched behind his ear with a shadow of a smile on her face.

Gray watched with wide eyes as she picked up the dead man by the front of his belt and carried him back inside, and dumped him with the rest of the unconscious members of the dark guild. She seemed to have no hesitation with it, and he didn't exactly feel like questioning her on whether she had done this sort of thing before. He supposed that the guy definitely deserved it after ordering her village to be put to the slaughter. There was no way that she wasn't allowed her revenge, and he hoped that she had got some more peace over the death of her family and friends with this.

"I'll wait here. You should all go back and rest." Mystogan suggested quietly, and Shio was definitely not going to argue.

"I'll stay with him as well. We'll look for any other information about these guys operations too." Loke offered and ran his fingers through his hair.

Before anyone could dissuade her, Shio already started making her way back to the small house where Horologium would be waiting for them with their stuff...


	15. The Destroyer

**Chapter 15 - The Destroyer**

It had been three days since Team Natsu with Mystogan and Shio had beaten Black Kraken and they were currently occupying three rooms in a larger towns' inn. After the Rune Knights had collected their criminals, they had gone to stay in a nearby town which had a few rooms available at the resort there. They were planning to make their way back to Magnolia at a casual pace. Shio was walking through the marketplace, more or less out of boredom, as well as uncertainty. Although she knew that this was the right thing for her to do, she still wasn't sure if she should leave now.

Mystogan had given her a piece of paper yesterday that detailed the current whereabouts of most of the other Black Kraken members. He had taken it from the second level office where they had found the leader and there was still a bunch that needed to be taken care of. He had already checked off most of them for her, but there was one that was only a day away from their location here. The paper was dated a week ago, and it wasn't certain how quickly they were moving, but the word about their leader being taken out wouldn't have reached anyone yet, but when it did, they would all go into hiding and it would be much more difficult to find them.

Suddenly, someone took a hold of her wrist and she jumped in fright. She snapped her head toward them, alarm shooting through her mind, but her red eyes fell upon Gray's face and she calmed down immediately. Letting go of the breath she was holding, her heart began to slow as well. Her other hand had already clenched tightly into a fist, and she relaxed it now that she knew there was no danger.

"Are you okay? I was calling out to you." his dark eyes looked her over subtly, trying to figure out what was wrong.

"Sorry, I was thinking…" she trailed off, wondering whether she should ask Gray now, while they were alone together.

She knew that the other members of their group would support her and Mystogan would probably tell her that she should have left when he gave her the note. All she was worried about was Gray. The last thing she wanted was for him to be upset that she was going to leave, again. It wasn't that he didn't understand her motivation, or why she was doing all this, but she didn't want to risk them being called off for good by leaving once more.

"What is it Shio?" He asked confusedly, not sure what was quite so puzzling to make her space out like that.

After staring at him for a moment, she took a breath to steel her nerves and answered him.

"I have intel." She dug into her pocket and pulled out the note with the details on it and handed it to him. He took it hesitantly, but understood when he saw it.

"There is a group not too far from here." He looked up and his expression fell, more than likely from the look on her face.

"I know." Shio spoke evenly, but her face probably said it all.

"So you want to leave now and get them?" She nodded slowly. "Then what is that look for?" He asked and she took a slow controlled breath.

"I don't want…" she trailed off and sighed, uncertain of how to get her message across without sounding too desperate. "I don't want you to be upset if I leave."

His eyes softened at her confession and he slung an arm over her shoulders affectionately, pulling her close. The ice Mage was quiet for a moment, and seemed to be organising his words in his head, so Shio stayed quiet and strolled along with him until he sorted it out.

"Shio, I wasn't upset the first time. I was just...worried." He shrugged, staring at the path in front of them. "I won't be upset if you go this time. At least I'll know where you are. I can even come with you, if you like."

"Lucy told me Team Natsu has a mission lined up for when you get back." His gaze turned inward for a split second and he nodded when he remembered their mission. "Besides, I'll have Faelan with me. I'll be okay."

Snuggling closer, she wrapped her arm around his waist and continued at their lazy pace while Gray nodded and sighed softly.

"When I track down all these guys, I want to come back to Magnolia and sleep for a month." She groaned and tilted her head up just enough to see him smirk.

"Then I'll have to make sure my schedule is clear so we can _both_ stay in bed for a month." He looked down at her with a cheeky glint in his eye that made her blush redder than Erza's hair.

When her jaw dropped, he cracked up laughing at her expense and let her move away from him as he doubled over. She punched his arm, and it went dead immediately and he grunted in pain.

"Shit! Remind me not to get on your bad side. I can't feel my arm." He said with a soft chuckle, rubbing the aforementioned limb.

"Damn right you shouldn't." Shio couldn't help but laugh at him as he practically pouted at her.

They came back to their original position, Gray's not-dead arm over her shoulder and hers around his waist and they strolled through the marketplace, enjoying their last few hours together before they would have to separate for a little while longer...

* * *

_2 months later..._

Gray was wandering through the streets of Magnolia in the mid morning. It was a warm day, which he didn't really like, but the cool breeze made it much more tolerable for the ice mage. He was heading slowly towards the guild hall, intending to leave for the mission he was going on with Team Natsu. His route was not straight, and he had been meandering for the last hour or so, lost in thought. Most of his days ended up with him strolling around the city for no reason, thinking about anything and everything, but in particular, one girl who he missed terribly.

Over the last few weeks, he had been too afraid to leave Magnolia, but unfortunately Lucy's rent needed paying and they couldn't put it off any longer. The mission they had gone on when they returned to Magnolia was a well paying one, and had held off Lucy's landlady for the last few weeks. Now they couldn't wait any more. He was worried that Shio would get back while they were gone, and have to leave again if she got a lead. She had written to them last month, and told them that she was still taking out a few small time members of Black Kraken. Her and Mystogan had sorted out at least 80 per cent of them, but there was still some groups of them scattered around.

He admired her tenacity, and was worried about what state he would end up in if he ever pissed her off. She was determined to the point of destroying them so thoroughly that no one would even whisper the name Black Kraken out of fear of incurring her wrath upon them. Just thinking of her made him smile softly to himself, and even though he missed her terribly, he knew that she was coming back this time and that she was okay.

Seeing her in action those few times made him sure that he didn't need to worry about her never coming home. Although there would always be a bundle of fear tucked away in his mind, it was more or less instinctive, rather than a conscious decision to be concerned. He wanted her here with him right now, walking casually through the streets, but he knew that she would return when she could, and not before. His respect for her desire to do some good in this world was just another thing that made him fall for her all over again when she explained that she was going to continue hunting dark guilds.

"Shio, the Destroyer," he whispered softly to himself, his hands in his pockets as he strolled through the guild doors.

_They were roughly five days away from arriving back in Magnolia, and they had been staying in an onsen resort since yesterday. They certainly deserved the rest and relaxation, but Mystogan had decided to leave early. He had spent at least half an hour talking to Shio privately before he had announced his departure. Gray walked outside to get some fresh air and came across Faelan who seemed to be doing the same thing. When the wolf saw him, his eyes went wide and then his gaze turned inward._

" _Are you talking to Shio?" Gray asked him suspiciously, placing his hands in his pockets. He vaguely felt his pendant there, glad that he hadn't misplaced it. The chain had broken in their big fight and he hadn't been bothered to replace it yet._

" _Maybe." Faelan replied and eyed the ice mage cautiously._

" _Is everything alright?"_

" _Uhh, yeah. You just might not like what she's going to tell you guys." Faelan zipped off before Gray could ask him what the hell he meant._

_He stepped back inside and saw Shio opening the shoji screen from the girls side of their room. It had been convenient to get a partitioned room so that they could all be nearby one another. Shio was staring at the floor, chewing her bottom lip nervously and finally looked up after feeling his gaze upon her. Her eyes went wide and she reacted the exact same way that Faelan did earlier. He would have laughed if he wasn't worried about whatever she was going to say._

_Sensing that she was going to ask everyone to listen to what she had to say, he went and sat in the middle of the room around the table. Natsu and Lucy were already acting all cutesy in one corner and Erza was quietly reading a book opposite them with Happy eating a fish nearby._

" _Hey guys. I've got something to talk to you about." Shio spoke up in a wavering voice, and Gray felt his heart sink, though he didn't know what for yet._

" _Go ahead Shio. We are listening." Erza said in her usual wise, sagely voice and gave her dark-haired friend her full attention after putting down her book. Even Natsu and Lucy pulled apart from each other and Happy stopped eating._

" _I want to keep hunting dark guilds. I realise that my skill set will allow me to do a good job and that getting rid of them will help to make the world a better place." Shio watched her friends reactions with baited breath to see if they were going to support her or talk her out of it._

_Lucy spoke first._

" _I know you mentioned this to me before the big fight, and after seeing you fight, I know that you can take care of yourself. Faelan will be with you too." she smiled at her friend, and Shio gave her a half smile in thanks._

" _I agree with Lucy. Your ability in battle is specialised to shock combat which will be very handy in taking dark guilds by surprise. I know that we would have had a lot more trouble taking down Black Kraken's leader if not for you and Faelan sharing your body, allowing you to counter his ability that even rendered me useless." Erza's support made her visibly relax, but there was still people she was waiting to hear from._

" _Damn right! Shio's going to kick some dark guild butt!" Natsu yelled in support and punched the air, making her snort with laughter and shake her head. Happy punched the air too, showing his support._

_The silence while they waited for him to respond was tense. Everyone kept their gaze away from him to give him time to speak without pressuring him, though the wait was probably killing Shio. If he didn't want her to go, would she go against his wishes just to follow her heart, or would she stay in Magnolia to keep him happy and risk regretting her decision? He wouldn't want her to regret it, just so that he could be happy. She was doing a brave thing for a good reason and he shouldn't come between her and her ambitions, especially not when they were so noble._

" _Are you sure you want to do this?" he asked, his voice blank and giving no indication to his thoughts._

_She stared at him for a second before she finally nodded confidently and waited for him to speak again._

" _As much as I don't want you to be away, it's a really selfless thing and I have to say that I respect you all the more for it. I know that Mystogan has taught you well, and I know that you are a force to be reckoned with. Your ruthlessness is a little intimidating even. I just want you to make sure that you aren't away for too long at a time...We will miss you too much." he made sure to not make himself the only reason that she should come back to Magnolia, although he secretly hoped that she would come back especially to see him. Maybe even not tell their friends so that they could spend a day or two lazing around the house together._

_Her knowing smile told him that she knew what he meant without him having to say it. She looked at her lap and he saw her cheeks flush a little before they returned to their normal colour and she lifted her head._

" _Thank you guys. I wouldn't have felt right doing it without talking to you about it first."_

_He finally cracked a smile once she smiled, looking truly happy._

_Natsu jumped up, and made a majestic pose and yelled loudly. "SHIO! The Dark Guild Destroyeeerrrr."_

_Even Gray couldn't stop himself from laughing at that..._

Once he entered the guild hall and people started to notice him, the place went eerily silent. His eyes darted around the room for something that would explain why everyone went quiet all of a sudden, and no one's expression gave him the answers. They all just stared at him with baited breath, waiting for who knows what to happen. Maybe Natsu had organised a prank or was going to try and scare him?

Finally they laid upon the reason herself.

_Shio…_

She was standing behind the bar with Mira, moving some kegs around for her. Her dark hair was still growing longer, and was half up, the lengths falling softly over her back. Once she placed the massive barrel down, Mira smiled at her and thanked her before she felt eyes upon them and looked in Gray's direction. The pale-haired woman practically vibrated in excitement and jumped up and down in happiness when she noticed him.

Faelan's head appeared over the top of the bar and he barked happily, drawing Shio's attention to whatever he and Mira were looking at. Gray watched silently, hands fisted in his pockets as she turned her head toward him and he could just see her surprise pass across her face quickly, before it was replaced with a beaming smile. If thinking about her as much as he had done today had somehow summoned her, he would have done it much sooner.

With ease, she leapt over the bar and sprinted toward him. He finally removed his hands from his pockets, only to wrap his arms around her when she thudded heavily into him. She knocked some of the wind out of him, but didn't seem phased at all, too excited to notice. His left hand tangled in her hair, and she smelt like Lucy's shampoo.

"Have you been at Lucy's place?" he pulled back abruptly to ask her, wondering why she would go there first. He knew that Lucy was one of her closest friends, but his stomach sank at the thought that she would go to Lucy before him.

"Yeah…" she replied hesitantly, noticing the expression on his face. She realised why he was asking and became a little shy. "I needed to wash up before I saw you. I've been fighting every other day for months. I smelt like dried blood and dirt."

Instead of a verbal response, he drew her close again and laughed softly. He loved the way that she held him so tightly, letting him know that he had been truly missed. They stayed like that for another few seconds until they were getting cheers from the other guild members, and both of them stepped back, embarrassed. Gray scratched the back of his head awkwardly, and Shio shifted her weight back and forth from her heels to her toes and she stared at the floor.

She leaned her weight to the side and noticed his backpack before looking up at him with the best puppy dog eyes he had ever seen. It took all he had not to melt into a gooey puddle then and there. Her bright red eyes were suddenly the size of dinner plates and if he didn't know better, he would think that she was pouting at him. Anyone else looking at him like that with bright red eyes would be a little unnerving, but it was normal with Shio.

"Ah, everyone should be here soon. Going on a mission with Natsu, Lucy, Happy and Erza." Her made formed a circle in a silent 'Oh' and he frowned at her disappointment. "I'm sorry. I've been trying not to leave in case you got back, but Lucy needs to pay her rent. I...I can stay here if you like..." he offered hesitantly, before she shook her head.

"It's okay. I don't plan on going anywhere for a while yet, so I'll just see you when you get back." How long are you gone for?" she smiled to reassure him it was okay.

"6 to 7 days."

"Ah, is that all? I'm sure we can wait another week." her cheeks tinted with red and he couldn't help but crack a smile at her shyness. Surely by now she would have been feeling more confident, but maybe their time apart made her shy all over again.

"I did go to your house earlier after I was at Lucy's, but you weren't there. So I figured I would just come straight here and hopefully you would be here eventually. Your scent was strongest here too." she explained in a quiet voice, and his smile grew at her confession.

"Sorry, it must have been just after I left. I was just walking around before I came here…" he trailed off, and Shio waited quietly for him to continue. "I was thinking about you, actually. I was thinking about how much I-"

"SHIO!" Natsu yelled from the guild doors and bolted toward her, crash tackling her, as had become his habit.

She landed with a heavy thud, but wasted no time getting the Dragon Slayer into a choke hold and stood up with her arm wrapped around his neck, her ability giving her the strength to keep hold of him. Mentally, she promised herself that next time he tried this, she would knock him flat first. Faelan was laughing at her as he strolled over to meet them.

"Nice to see you too, Natsu." she rubbed her knuckles forcefully on his head and laughed when he began to yelp in discomfort, trying to pry her arm off him. "My Uncle always did this to me when I was young. Now, I know why. It's hilarious!"

He finally managed to pull his head from her grip, and fell straight back onto his rear end. Happy floated next to Shio and he fist bumped her in a gesture for a job well done. Gray was laughing, as well as a few other guild members. It was certainly more lively in here now that the Fire Dragon Slayer had arrived. It was always louder when he was around, but it made the place more interesting and fun. Also, it took the attention away from them.

Gray heard Lucy's rambling about how Natsu had taken off on her as she approached the guild doors and waved to Gray and Shio. Her face fell into shock and she sprinted over to Shio, taking the other girls hands in her own.

"Shio! I'm so sorry. I totally forgot to tell you that we had a mission! I was too excited to see you!" Lucy exclaimed apologetically and bounced on the spot.

"It's okay. I said I wasn't going anywhere for a while yet. No worries." she smiled to her blonde friend and Gray watched her expression change to a sly one. "Do you happen to need a house sitter, by any chance? Because I would be happy to offer my services, free of charge." she bowed her head, playing to her joke and Lucy laughed again.

"By that she means stay at your place while you guys are away." Faelan interjected matter-of-factly, and Shio mock-glared at him.

"Of course you can crash at my place! I know you will keep it tidy, unlike some of my other guests." she pointedly stared at both Gray and Natsu, snapping her head between them both dramatically to further prove her point. The blonde handed Shio the key, who put it in her pocket for safekeeping.

"Thanks Luce. You're the best." Shio hugged her friend, and it was at that moment that the final member of their party arrived.

Erza Scarlet greeted Shio with a forceful hug that squeezed the air from her lungs and she was fairly certain her armour pattern would be imprinted on her skin for the next month.

"It's so good to see you back here and in good health, Shio. You have been sorely missed." she held a hand up on one side of her face, as if to exclude a particular dark-haired man from her next sentence. "By some more than others." she winked exaggeratedly and Shio just cracked up laughing at her friend's antics. Erza appeared to be happy to see her too.

Shio chatted with her friends about their mission for a little while until they had to leave. They yelled goodbye to their other guild mates, and headed back through the doors. Shio waved goodbye and watched Gray walk backwards, almost tripping over twice, just so he could see her for a while longer. Faelan stayed quiet next to her, but she nudged him with her knee when he began laughing at her in their shared consciousness.

Once they were out of her line of sight, she breathed deeply, and could still smell the mix of her friends scents upon her and in the air around her. Faelan nudged her hand affectionately, feeling her disappointment about them needing to leave so quickly. She sighed and headed back over to Mira, figuring that she may as well help out for the rest of the day...

* * *

_One week later…_

Team Natsu arrived back in Magnolia in the middle of the afternoon, and went their separate ways. Natsu and Lucy headed towards Lucy's apartment, Happy floating alongside them, and Erza went to Fairy Hills. Gray, however, was on the opposite side of town. It only took him around 10 minutes to walk there, if he was walking slowly, but today he picked up his pace. There was someone he wanted to see.

He wasn't sure if she was going to be at the guild, or at Lucy's house, but he wanted to make sure that he had washed up before he saw her. He hadn't been able to bathe to his standards in the week that they were gone, aside from one night that they stayed in a hotel. Taking the steps three at a time, he flew up the several flights to get to his floor and unlocked his door.

Tossing his bag down, he kicked his shoes off and stepped inside. He got the feeling that something wasn't quite right suddenly. Not sensing any danger, he walked towards his kitchen and looked to see that it was tidy and clean. It certainly wasn't when he left, so he was lost for words when he peeked into his bedroom on the right, finding it spotless too. He headed further and into the living room to see it was clean as well.

The perpetrator who had cleaned his place was even sleeping on his couch!

He went and sat down carefully next to them, and placed his hand on her shoulder, shaking her awake gently. Shio's red eyes slowly opened and focused on him. She rolled over onto her back to look at him properly and cracked a smile. He smiled back at her and brushed some hair off her face.

"Did you know that someone has broken into my apartment?" Gray said with a put-on dramatic voice, and smirked when Shio matched his acting, gasping with a hand over her mouth.

"Oh! How horrible! What did they do?" She sat up and was animating herself in time with her words.

"They cleaned my apartment."

"Utterly disgraceful! How dare they do such a thing?!"

They burst into laughter, unable to hold it in any longer. Gray ended up falling off the couch, landing on his rear end on the floorboards with a heavy thud. Shio laughed even harder as Gray rubbed his sore butt cheek, though he was still laughing as well. It took them at least three or four minutes to properly calm down and he began to second guess himself, becoming nervous at being alone with her.

Before she had left to travel with Mystogan, they had been alone plenty of times. But this was a little different. They were by themselves, in his apartment and no one would come looking for them. Faelan wasn't around either. Gray put his hands behind him, letting his weight even out as he stared at the roof quietly, not being sure what to say or do in this scenario.

"That reminds me!" Shio practically shouted from next to him and he flinched in surprise, turning to watch her fumble as she tried to pull something from her pocket.

Her face lit up when she found what she was looking for and pulled out a small, black cloth bag, no bigger than her hand. She swung her legs off the armrest and put them on the floor so that she was directly facing him.

Though he would never admit it out loud, he could have sworn that his heart stopped momentarily when she gave him her brightest and happiest smile, holding out the bag for him. He smiled and took it from her, carefully releasing the ties at the top. He looked inside and saw something metal. Reaching inside, it was cool to the touch and he pulled it out to reveal a necklace chain. It had no pendant on it, but it was similar to the one he had before. She must have bought it to replace his old one that had broken in their final fight against Black Kraken.

"I felt bad that your old one got broken. I asked a jeweller in the last village I was in to custom make an extra strong one for me." she explained quietly, before she became shy, wringing her hands together in her lap. "I hope you like it." she whispered awkwardly.

Placing the bag and chain aside on the floor carefully, he shuffled until he was on his knees in front of her.

"Shio." he bent down so that he could catch her gaze, and she turned away from him in embarrassment.

Instead, he just moved closer, her legs on either side of him and cupped the sides of her face with just enough force to make her look at him. She was blushing madly and he felt heat rise to his cheeks as well. He wasn't sure what to say or do, but luckily she spoke first.

"I...I want you to know that I don't have any expectations for us to pick up where we left off."

He watched the cogs turn behind her eyes as she tried to figure out the best thing to say to him and she kept hesitating and opening her mouth to speak, but closing just as fast. He didn't have any expectations either, but he remembered the look on her face when she had first laid eyes on him after a full year apart. How she had despaired so much about the note, and he knew that she would have beaten herself up over that since she found out. The gratitude in her eyes when she had helped her go to the bathroom in the middle of the night and her relief when he approved of her continuing her line of work. Gray knew that one of her biggest motivations for wanting to attempt the full transformation was that she was so afraid to hurt the people that she loved most, and that she would have preferred to die rather than risk hurting them.

She was an incredibly strong-willed woman.

"I know that we didn't really get much of a chance to talk about it before so-"

She was abruptly cut off by him pressing his lips to hers, and her train of thought died in the process. Gray was so happy to see that she still seemed to care for him so much, to the point that she was anxious to even look him in the eye in case she saw any sign of rejection from him. He knew from her nervousness that she still felt the exact same way about him as he did about her.

Feeling the need to breath, he pulled away and decided to tease her a little. She was staring at him with widened eyes in shock until he began to speak.

"What were you saying?" he asked, trying not to laugh at her blinking slowly to try and figure out what she was saying before he interrupted her.

"I...I h-have no idea."

He couldn't stop himself from laughing at her stuttered speech, and she shook her head with a smile as she realised what he was doing. She swatted his shoulder lightly and pulled him close for a hug. Her fingers tangled in his hair, and he suddenly realised that although his apartment was clean, he, on the other hand, was not. Although he didn't want to let go of her, he squeezed her tightly until she grunted in discomfort and he hopped up, moving away before she could hit him again.

"You're such a pest, Gray Fullbuster." she stood up and stretched, mock-glaring at him the whole time.

"Ah, you love me anyway." he grinned when she went red again and decided to be nice and not tease her again. "I'm going to unpack and wash up, if that's okay with you." he went to grab his bag from the front door and listened to Shio.

"Yeah, that's fine. I have a few things that I got for everyone else, so I'll go and give them their presents now that you're all back."

"If you are going to the guild, I can just come and get you when I'm done." he was lucky that she couldn't see his face, because his dark eyes went wide as he realised what he was saying.

"Um, okay." Shio's voice was soft with nervousness again, and he was feeling it too.

"If you have something else to do though…" he trailed off, not really knowing where he was going with that.

"No, nothing on."

He finally turned back around after pretending to fiddle with his bag for a moment and headed toward his bedroom, still staring in it's depths. Although she had no footfalls, probably second nature now from the hunting she did, he knew that she was strolling behind him casually.

"If you like we could just...get something to eat and hang out here." he put his bag down on his bed, and finally turned to face her.

She was staring at her feet, shifting her weight from her heels to her toes and had her hands clasped behind her back. Chewing her bottom lip, in an attempt not to smile too obviously, she nodded slowly. From the looks of it, he guessed that she was too nervous to answer him verbally and smiled at her.

"I'll come and get you from the guild in a little while then. If you aren't there when I get there, I'll wait for you. Okay?" he tried to word it so that she wouldn't rush off and sprint around everywhere to see their friends, but he figured that she would anyway.

"Okay." she managed to croak out in a whisper and his smile grew at the sight of her.

"I'll see you soon then."

Gray watched her turn away and he began to strip off his clothes, ready to get in the bath and scrub himself in preparation for tonight. Shio had a sensitive nose and he didn't want to stink when he met up with her later. He unbuttoned his pants but stopped when he heard a gasp from behind him, and turned to see Shio's face, looking more like a tomato before she scrambled out of the apartment as fast as she could. He was fairly certain he heard her yell an apology before the door slammed behind her and he couldn't help but crack up laughing at her as he continued to undress…

###

Shio was mightily embarrassed at her stupidity, but was sure that Gray probably enjoyed the attention anyway. Regardless, she was certain that her face was so hot that her skin would melt off if she had stayed any longer. She had seen him half-naked many times before, since it was a frequent occurrence in the guild hall, but that was a little bit different.

She ran all the way to Lucy's house and almost broke down the door with her knocking. She laughed breathlessly as she heard Natsu complaining about Lucy leaving, and she was fairly certain she knew what was happening before she interrupted them.

When Lucy opened the door, her hair was messy and she was a little flushed and Shio pursed her lips to try and stop herself from laughing again.

"Sorry to interrupt, but I really need your help. Gray basically asked me out tonight, and since I've been away, I have no nice clothes." Shio spoke way too fast and Lucy barely caught up before she replied.

"Of course, come on in. I'll get you all fixed up."

Lucy led her upstairs where Natsu was rolling on her bed, still mid tantrum. Shio suddenly remembered that she needed to give them their gifts as well and ran to the corner of Lucy's room where she had left them, as well as her pack.

"Here. These are for you guys." she handed one to Lucy, and the others she placed next to Natsu on the bed.

Natsu almost rolled over onto his until Lucy hissed at him and he sat up and pulled the brown paper cover off his gift. His eyes went wide and jaw dropped when he realised that it was a new fishing rod and a Happy-sized backpack for his companion. He leapt to his feet, and jumped at Shio, who deftly stepped out of the way, letting him land face first onto the floor.

She and Lucy laughed as he groaned painfully and gave up, staying on the floor. He groaned out a thank you, and Shio gave him a thumbs up so he could see it. Lucy opened hers to find a high quality leather pouch that would fit her keys in. It even had space for a few more, as Shio expected that she would end up being the best celestial wizard ever to exist. It was a beautiful shade of brown, and smooth to the touch with a shiny, golden buckle.

"This is beautiful! Thank you, Shio!" Lucy hugged her friend and they quickly returned to their earlier task.

For at least three minutes, Lucy rummaged through all of her clothes to find something that would fit, and look good on Shio. She found just the thing and Shio nodded her agreement before grabbing her pack and running out of the apartment, making sure to hop over Natsu, who was still on the floor. She yelled goodbye on the way out, pulling the door shut behind her and heading towards the guild hall.

Mira watched from her spot behind the bar, as Shio bolted in, dumped her pack and the clothes Lucy had leant her in the back room, and dashed back out holding a bunch of other packages. The older woman touched the earrings that Shio had given her, and guessed that she was giving the rest of Team Natsu their gifts. Shio headed straight for Fairy Hills, and went straight to the top floor to see Erza. Luckily, she was at home and opened the door with a smile.

"Erza. I got you a present, and I hope you like it. Can't stay, I have a date with Gray! Bye!" she spoke lightning fast and pushed an envelope into the redhead's hands.

Once Shio dashed off, Erza shrugged at her randomness and opened the envelope to find a voucher to her favourite cheesecake shop. She smiled and hugged the envelope to her chest and whispered a thank you to Shio, even though she knew she wouldn't hear it.

One floor below, Wendy was currently laying out her brand new quilt and pillow cover set that Shio had got her. It was a gorgeous array of colours and patterns with a large Fairy Tail symbol in the middle and she smiled happily as she finished straightening it out. Carla was sipping some tea, and knew it would take her a while to get through the huge variety that Shio had got her.

Meanwhile, Levy was reading a series of first edition books that Shio had bought from an old lady who had no need of them anymore. They had barely been touched, and Levy was completely immersed and had been for many hours. Gajeel had given up on breaking her away from them hours ago and was snoozing on her couch with his new leather vest that Shio had got made at the same place that made Lucy's key pouch. Panther Lily had a huge basket of kiwifruit to enjoy too.

Shio was heading back to the guild and leapt over the counter before she disappeared into the back room. After she got changed, she called out to Mira to come in and the soft-spoken girl came in to help her out. She helped her do her hair, and just add a light touch of make up and once they were done, Mira peeked outside to check if Gray had arrived. He was sitting at the bar talking to Macao and Wakaba, and Mira snuck back in, nodding her head in confirmation.

Taking a breath to steel herself, Shio came out from the back room and out from behind the bar. She heard the sudden silence from Macao, and Wakaba and felt their eyes on her and Gray's a moment later. She had changed into short sleeved dress that had a black and white spotted pattern on it, with soft material that flowed behind her, just grazing the floor. Gray couldn't help but stare and Macao and Wakaba seemed to take that as their cue to leave. The older men stood up and suddenly became very interested in talking to Levy and Laki over at another table.

When Shio smiled at his dazed expression, he finally stood up and scratched his head awkwardly, a boyish grin on his face. They didn't notice the eyes of everyone in the room upon them, all the smiling faces at seeing them both happy. After a moment, Gray gestured by tilting his head to say 'Let's go' and Shio nodded with a smile. She fell into step with him, and wrapped her arms around one of his. He looked down at her, and couldn't stop the colour rushing to his cheeks as she walked with him, a happy smile upon her face with her dress and hair flowing in the breeze.

They strolled back to his apartment, and enjoyed a quiet afternoon of play-wrestling, and catching up, eventually falling asleep in each other's arms after the sun had set...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for everyone who still keeping up with Bleeding Skies!  
> Writing without your support would be practically impossible, and I cannot thank you enough for the views and favourites.  
> I would love to hear from you in a review or PM about what you enjoyed about the story, and don't be afraid to tell me about the parts you didn't like! That's the only way I will improve as an author.
> 
> Thank you, and see you next time!  
> Rhee


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